Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino demoted after Pretti killing

Gregory Bovino is leaving Minneapolis and his role as Border Patrol commander-at-large.

Bovino was the face of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, He will return to his former role as chief patrol agent in El Centro, California. According to The Atlantic which first reported Bovino’s departure Monday, the public face of the flagging operation in Minnesota is expecting to retire soon.

Bovino’s departure comes after Veterans Affairs nurse Alex Pretti was killed by federal immigration agents on Jan. 24. He spent the hours after Pretti’s death pushing the idea that Pretti was a threat to Border Patrol agents.

“This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement,” Bovino said about the killing.

Bovino’s version of events quickly counteracted by videos of Pretti’s death. Pretti was disarmed and held down before he was fatally shot multiple times by several officers. Like the killing of Renee Good earlier this month, Pretti’s death led to widespread protests in Minneapolis.

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Trump announced Monday that his “border czar” Tom Homan would lead the charge in Minnesota and report directly to the president. He also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, noting that the phone call was “very good” in a post to Truth Social.

Walz said in a statement that he and Trump “had a productive call” and that Trump “agreed to look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota and to talk to DHS about ensuring the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is able to conduct an independent investigation, as would ordinarily be the case.”