Reports about a senior US Border Patrol commander, closely tied with the Trump administration's aggressive immigration enforcement strategy, leaving Minneapolis have left many citizens stunned.
Gregory Bovino entered the spotlight after the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, whose controversial remarks on the tragedy left America furious. Bovino became the public face of Operation Metro Surge, which was a federal crackdown that deployed hundreds of Border Patrol and ICE agents into the city.
This operation drew sharp criticism across the board from local leaders and civil liberties advocates for the militarized approach to urban enforcement and large-scale arrests taking place.
Tensions were at a peak after he shed light on how the real victims of this entire operation were the border patrol agents, instead of condemning the killings of Pretti and Good. He defended all the agents involved and said that Pretti intended to harm the officers, which are statements that contradicted the video footage going viral. Now, reports about his firing are taking center stage as he faced backlash from not only political opponents but also some Republican lawmakers.