Remember the guy at Donald Trump’s town hall in New Hampshire who claimed that President Obama was a Muslim and began a backlash against Trump for not correcting him? Some suspected the man was a plant, while days later pro journalists like CNN’s Jake Tapper were turning to Twitter to ask if anyone had any clue to the guy’s identity.
It certainly did seem odd that the same press that immediately tracked down every detail on Joe the Plumber just couldn’t seem to locate the man from Trump’s rally.
Fast forward to today’s visit by Pope Francis and the astonishingly large crowd that lined his motorcade as it wound through D.C. For many, the highlight of the procession was when a five-year-old managed to reach the Popemobile for a hug from the Pope himself. We wonder who that girl was … or how it was so widely known she was 5. Turns out we already know plenty about this lucky girl who made a run for it.
She’s from Los Angeles and, depending on which headline you read, she got past the barricades and/or broke through/breached/eluded security to give the Pope a hug and a gift. It certainly was kind of the security agents to gently lift her up to hand the Pope a gift after she broke through the barricades and ran into the street.
5-year-old girl from Los Angeles blessed by Pope Francis during Washington, D.C. parade http://t.co/w2yo1x4yh6https://t.co/ozqooMvsMZ
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 23, 2015
5-year-old breaches security at parade, gets kiss from pope http://t.co/M7HJvMq7JR
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) September 23, 2015
5-year-old girl passes barricade to deliver message to Pope Francis. @ScottPelley has her story, tonight. http://t.co/AhSUzrlW6P
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 23, 2015
Despite Secret Service 5-year-old gets waved on by the Pope for a popemobile hug. My fave part of @wusa9 coverage pic.twitter.com/FORc0MsWYZ
— Russ Ptacek ? (@RussPtacek) September 23, 2015
It turns out we know her name, too, and the message she handed the Pope.
5-year-old Sofía Cruz, hands letter to Pope about the 5M children in U.S. whose immigrant parents could be deported. http://t.co/evn2gjDVJe
— Voto Latino (@votolatino) September 23, 2015
A 5-Year-Old Gave Pope Francis A Letter Asking Him To Help Keep Her Parents In The Country http://t.co/RnmshFtxQP pic.twitter.com/3DsaDcKPh6
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 23, 2015
5 year old hugged by #Pope gives him letter: My heart is sad because of hate & discrimination towards immigrants" >> pic.twitter.com/YEJ7JlFAGh
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) September 23, 2015
This is the letter 5-year-old Sophie Cruz gave to Pope Francis. #PopeInDC (via @CBSNews) http://t.co/jm8krwC0Jb pic.twitter.com/hTqxI75iqL
— WUSA9 (@wusa9) September 23, 2015
Wow; we even have a copy of the letter she handed to Pope Francis. If that’s too difficult to read, you can click on over to The Guardian’s U.S. edition to hear her read it out loud.
Francis and Sophie's secret: girl who hugged pope delivers immigration plea http://t.co/ZvQavHgIlS pic.twitter.com/AtV5u1NWiC
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 23, 2015
Shhh … it’s a secret just between Sofi and Pope Francis.
"I have the right to live with my parents. I have the right to be happy." – #SofiCruz #ifIMetThePope http://t.co/Eo8Kn3yJaf
— Keenan M. Toohey (@KeeKeeTee) September 23, 2015
.@ScottPelley reports on 5-year-old daughter of undocumented immigrants who crossed barricade to give message to pope pic.twitter.com/l3xf0OsKuN
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) September 23, 2015
#SofiCruz to the Pope abt her undoc parents: "Every day I am scared that one day [ICE] will take them away from me." pic.twitter.com/TQ59d9BU1H
— America's Voice (@AmericasVoice) September 23, 2015
Here she is with her illegal alien father, whom reporters also managed to track down and interview (see below).
Sophie Cruz,5, with her father Raùl, has memorized a message about her family for @Pontifex in English and Spanish pic.twitter.com/dhXCL4FGPv
— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) September 23, 2015
5-year-old Sofi was blessed by #PapaFrancisco today, and gave him a very important message http://t.co/yczDYrDWLnhttps://t.co/FdAc86trQ4
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) September 23, 2015
Imagine if Sofi and her father had traveled all the way from L.A. to D.C. after all that preparation and she hadn’t managed to break through the barricades and security personnel. Truly a miracle.
http://t.co/dgMIefqTb7 This caused real tears #immigrationreform
— Milena (@miladrozd) September 23, 2015
* * *
Update: The Chicago Tribune reports that Sofi and her father will be busy during their visit to Washington:
Sophie and her father will appear at a rally and news conference Wednesday evening at the Capitol. Rep. Julia Brownley invited Sophie to listen to the pope’s address to Congress on Thursday.
The Cruz’s trip to Washington was sponsored by the nonprofit group Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional.
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