Greg Bovino set to leave Minneapolis and could ‘retire’ in wake of Alex Pretti killing, report says
Border Patrol “commander at large” Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role in Minneapolis and will return to his old job in California, according to reports.
Bovino, who has been heavily involved in crackdowns on immigration across the country, will return to El Centro and could even “retire soon,” a DHS official and two other sources told The Atlantic.
However, in an online statement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin strongly denied the claims.
“Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,” she wrote on X in response to the reports, adding that Bovino “is a key part of the President’s team and a great American.”
President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had asked border czar Tom Homan to go to Minneapolis and oversee the chaotic immigration enforcement campaign.
It comes following the recent chaotic events in Minneapolis, in which two protesters have been shot dead by federal agents in less than three weeks. Renee Nicole Good was shot by an ICE agent on January 7 and ICU nurse Alex Pretti was killed on Saturday.
Bovino was set to leave Minneapolis as soon as Tuesday, CNN reported. However, news of his role change had not been specified. Meanwhile, CNN also reported that Bovino has also had his access to his social media accounts cut off, effective immediately.
Bovino previously blamed Democrats and journalists for the escalating situation in Minneapolis, and dodged questions on whether his agency bore responsibility for the tragedies.
Footage captured from multiple angles showed how 37-year-old Pretti was sprayed in the face with mace and thrown to the ground by officers before being beaten and ultimately shot multiple times.
“When politicians, community leaders and some journalists engage in that heated rhetoric we keep talking about, when they make the choice to vilify law enforcement, calling law enforcement names like Gestapo or using the term kidnapping, that is a choice that has made their actions and consequences that come from those choices,” Bovino said Sunday.
“When someone chooses to listen to a politician, a so-called journalist, or a community leader that spouts that type of vilification towards law enforcement or anything else… there are consequences and actions there also, I think we saw that [Saturday],” he added
When asked if he or the Department of Homeland Security intended to take any responsibility for the fatal shootings, Bovino dodged the question, describing Pretti and Good as “suspects” who “assault, delay, obstruct or threaten a law enforcement officer’s life.”
The reported removal of Bovino and some of his agents from the city appeared to mark a shift in tone from the Trump administration in its handling of the situation in Minnesota, which has seen an explosion in tension between protesters and law enforcement following the two fatal shootings.
On Monday, the president spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in separate and seemingly positive conversations.
