We learned this week that the fellow who took the infamous photo of the mounted border patrol agent apparently whipping a Haitian migrant actually never saw any of the agents whip anybody that day.

Now a longtime veteran of the United States Border Patrol is offering further evidence that the whole ridiculous hysteria was, well, ridiculously hysterical:

Accusations swirled in the media this week of agents using whips to deter migrants from entering the country after pictures and videos of horseback patrols emerged.

"It's a bunch of BS," Rowdy Ballard told Fox News on Friday.

Ballard was Del Rio, Texas' horse coordinator for six years and spent 17 years on horseback for Border Patrol before entering retirement.

"We all have the same message: we don't carry whips," he said.

Well shucks, that seems like some pretty notable testimony, does it not? Maybe it would have been better if the White House, the media, every uninformed pundit, and pretty much everybody in the whole wide world got all the facts before rushing at light-speed to judgment in this case.

As an aside: Is "Rowdy Ballard" the best cowboy name we've heard in years? Very possibly so. Hats off to you, Rowdy.