Greg Bovino issued a striking statement in his first public appearance since being removed from his position as “commander at large” of Border Patrol in Minnesota.
Bovino has been in the firing line following the controversies of the past few weeks, repeatedly defending ICE agents and regurgitating the Trump administration’s questionable lines regarding the circumstances under which U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti lost their lives.
Tensions have remained dangerously high in Minnesota since the turn of the year, with Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) agents roaming the streets in a bid to round up individuals they suspect of being in the U.S. without the appropriate permissions.
Protests and anger against ICE’s heavy-handed tactics have led to clashes, which in turn have led to a string of violent incidents, including the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti on January 24 and Renee Good on January 7.
Earlier this week, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters that Greg Bovino was leaving Minnesota along with a number of the agents who were deployed with him.
The Guardian claimed that Bovino would be returning to his former job as chief patrol agent along California’s El Centro sector of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
President Trump revealed that he was sending his so-dubbed “border tsar” Tom Homan to Minnesota in Bovino’s place. Homan is charged with overseeing operations – nicknamed Operation Metro Surge – and reporting directly to Trump himself.
In a video shared to X late on Wednesday, Bovino made his first statement after being relieved of his position in Minnesota, taking the moment to defend ICE agents and the operations they are carrying out.
Before the stirring backdrop of Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, Bovino,
55, delivered a message to his men, stating: “I love you, I support you, and I salute you.”
He continued: “I’ve got your back, now and always.”
The timing of Bovino being removed from Minnesota appears undoubtedly linked to the aforementioned shooting of Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse shot multiple times by ICE agents last Saturday.
Parroting the narrative offered by several high-ranking members of the Trump administration, Bovino strongly inferred that Pretti had been a credible threat to the agents in question before they subdued and then killed him.
“This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” Bovino said after the shooting.
Video evidence, however, showed Pretti to be holding a phone, not a firearm. The 37-year-old had been carrying a 9mm handgun, but was pepper-sprayed, restrained, and then disarmed before he was shot dead.
In spite of the storm of controversy that continues to rage, Bovino declared his unwavering support for his team.
“I’m very proud of what you, the Mean Green Machine, are doing in Minneapolis right now, just like you’ve done it across the United States over these past tough nine months… It makes me very proud,” he said.
What do you make of Greg Bovino’s removal? Let us know in the comments.
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