Recently removed from his post in Minneapolis, a Border Patrol chief was filmed during a previous ICE operation, emphatically instructing agents that anyone who touches them “gets it.”
The official, Gregory Bovino, 55, was reassigned from the Twin Cities on Monday following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, 37. These incidents occurred amid altercations with agents earlier this month.
Bovino became a focal point of controversy due to his outspoken demeanor and preference for military-style coats, drawing comparisons to Gestapo attire.
In a newly surfaced video, Bovino is seen delivering an unfiltered pep talk to Border Patrol agents in Los Angeles last June, urging them to arrest anyone who makes contact with them.
He emphasized, “These are the orders right from the top. Everyone who touches you gets it, you understand?”
Bovino, who usually oversees the Border Patrol’s El Centro sector in California, also mentioned his intention to equip the city with non-lethal weapons. However, he reminded his team to maintain professionalism and adhere to legal, ethical, and moral standards.
Less lethal weapons usually refers to rubber bullets and beanbag rounds, among others, and are frequently deployed in the face of protests.
In the 30-second clip, Bovino tells agents he plans to bring in truckloads of the ammunition and tells his men: ‘It’s all about us now’.
Greg Bovino is heard in newly surfaced bodycam footage telling agents to arrest anyone who touches them during an operation in Los Angeles in June
Video shows the commander of Trump’s immigration crackdown telling his agents: ‘Everybody f***king gets it if they touch you, you hear what I’m saying?’ and ‘this is our f**king city’
‘Less lethals, we’re going to look at shipping tractor-trailer loads of that in here. You catch what I’m [inaudible]… It’s all about us now, it ain’t about them,’ the 55-year-old is heard saying.
He adds: ‘Professional, legal, ethical and moral – you know what we’re talking about. Legal, ethical, moral – you’re on camera. But other than that, it’s what we do.’
Asked by an agent whose city it is, Bovino quickly quips back: ‘It’s f***ing ours. This is our f***ing city.’
The ICE commander has come under fire repeatedly over the last month for his handling of the Minneapolis operation and left pundits stunned after he responded to mom-of-one Good’s death by telling FOX News: ‘Hats off to that ICE agent’.
Despite his removal, Bovino told ICE agents that he was ‘very proud’ of their work in Minneapolis during a video message shared on Thursday from Mount Rushmore, about 600 miles west of Minneapolis.
He celebrated the agency’s hardcore ‘turn and burn’ tactics during President Trump’s second term following his departure from the city after the Pretti shooting.
‘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 tough past nine months,’ Bovino said.
‘I want you to know you are the modern day equivalent of turn and burn.’
His ‘turn and burn’ strategy consisted of an influx of federal agents descending on a city and making mass arrests before departing.
Violent clashes between law enforcement and protests have erupted amid large-scale ICE operations overseen by Bovino in Minneapolis and other US cities
Federal agents hold a person down as immigration enforcement continues in Minneapolis
Bovino had most recently sparked outrage again last weekend by mounting a defense of the Border Patrol officers who killed Pretti, telling a news conference the intensive care nurse had ‘violently resisted’ and claimed the shots fired at the prone 37-year-old had been ‘defensive’.
He added: ‘This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.’
That, combined with widespread outrage on both sides of the political divide over Pretti’s death, proved to be the final straw with Bovino yanked from Minneapolis on Monday and replaced with President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan.
Bovino was reported to have returned to his home – and official post – in El Centro, California, but the Daily Mail can reveal that is not the case.
The $550,000 five-bedroom home in the border city that he shares with his wife and children was silent and shuttered on Thursday. Four Border Patrol vehicles could be seen guarding the property – which they have done for months since Bovino’s profile soared when he fronted the June ICE raids in Los Angeles that sparked riots.
Meanwhile, at the El Centro Sector headquarters in Imperial, staff said Bovino was not in the building and was not expected to be for some time.
The Department of Homeland Security has also denied that Bovino has been fired from his national role, with spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin saying Monday that the combative commander ‘has NOT been relieved of his duties’ and describing him as a ‘key part of the president’s team and a great American.’
Nevertheless, the backlash has continued to grow in the days following Pretti’s death – with the outrage spreading as far as El Centro, where a trio of protesters were seen receiving a series of appreciative honks while protesting Bovino outside Border Patrol HQ.
Bovino, 55, was withdrawn Monday from the Twin Cities following the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti – both of which happened during confrontations with agents
Protesters have been seen gathering outside Border Patrol HQ in El Centro, California as anger over the recent deaths of two protesters grows
One of four cars with agents protecting Bovino’s home in El Centro, Californiaamid growing tensions
Standing in the heat, Maribel Radilla brandished a sign that read ‘Deport Bovino, keep the migrants’.
Pal David Milam carried a poster that read ‘Bovino: Liar, murderer, disgrace’ while another friend Frederica Luke held a placard that borrowed Trump’s own ‘you’re fired!’ catchphrase to lambast Bovino and his boss Kristi Noem.
All three said they backed Border Patrol but Radilla told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s nothing against any of the people who work here.
‘We support and understand the need for Border Patrol but it’s the way ICE agents are operating that’s the problem.
‘This is a conservative area but we need and want migrants.’
