Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino defended the actions and training of federal agents as immigration raids intensified in Minnesota on Sunday, days after the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Nicole Good in the state’s capital.
At one ICE raid at a gas station in St. Paul on Sunday, federal agents dragged a man from his car then tackled a bystander who was filming.
Protests have taken place amid the raids, including one on Sunday outside an ICE facility in St. Paul, Minnesota, where CBS News saw federal agents deploy pepper balls and tear gas against protesters – led by Bovino.
Bovino claimed in an interview with CBS News that agencies within the Department of Homeland Security are working to de-escalate situations, saying, “every day we de-escalate.”
CBS News witnessed agents confronting the protesters outside of the facility, telling demonstrators to move back and antagonizing them. CBS News pointed out to Bovino that it didn’t look like de-escalation.
“The agitators and the rioters here in Minneapolis need to understand that our operations will continue unabated despite the violence they perpetrate against law enforcement,” he responded.
Bovino blamed local officials for escalating tensions between protesters and law enforcement.
“Some of those police chiefs, and especially some of those elected representatives, let’s talk about Mayor Frey or Gov. Walz, they follow in the footsteps of the Gov. Pritzkers and the Gavin Newsoms. That is not de-escalation,” Bovino said. “That is escalation, and if they don’t quit, they will have … they will have more blood on their hands.”
Frey, Minneapolis’ mayor, had a strongly worded message for federal immigration officials after Good was killed, saying at a news conference: “Get the f*** out of Minneapolis.” He also told CBS News Minnesota on Sunday, “you would hope that, especially following some form of awful and horrific event like that, that they would take a step back, take a pause, and then, even better, leave. We have not seen that.”
Bovino defends agents’ knowledge, training
Hundreds more federal agents are now being sent to Minneapolis, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Sunday, as the department carries out what officials are calling the “largest immigration operation ever.”
The Minneapolis area has one of the largest concentrations of DHS agents in any U.S. city, with over 2,400 federal agents – more than double the number of local police officers.
Federal law enforcement is conducting at-large sweeps of neighborhoods in Minnesota, an approach that current and former ICE agents said could put citizens and law enforcement at risk. Bovino disputes those claims.
“We’ve been at this eight months, so we take that eight months of institutional knowledge along with some of the most highly trained federal law enforcement professionals in terms of immigration and general law enforcement anywhere in the United States,” he said. “I can’t think of a better law enforcement group that I would rather be with than… than what we have on the ground here.”
Jonathan Ross is “in a safe location,” Bovino says
Bovino told CBS News a fair investigation into the fatal shooting of Good is taking place.
The FBI is investigating after the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension withdrew from the case last week, citing federal officials restricting its access to evidence.
Trump administration officials have claimed that Good intended to ram ICE agent Jonathan Ross with her car before he shot and killed her last Wednesday.
Appearing on CNN, Noem insisted the deadly use of force was appropriate, saying, “He had to take quick action based on his training to defend himself and his colleagues around him.”
Others, however, have pointed out that Ross was still holding his camera and filming throughout the shooting.
“If he was hit and run over by a car, how the hell is he still holding on to his cell phone afterwards?” Frey said. “I mean, I’ve dropped my cell phone numerous times by barely getting brushed, yet he can get hit by a car, and he’s still hanging on, hanging on to it?”
Bovino said has not personally spoken to Ross, but that Ross “has had several threats against his life” and is “in a safe location.”
“He’s recovering from those injuries and we’re thankful that he’s recovering,” Bovino said.
When pressed about why agents were on the ground in the neighborhood where Good died and about how the situation there escalated, Bovino again placed blame on local and state officials.
“That’s again, back to Mayor Frey and back to Gov. Walz – who turned the heat up and caused these weaker-minded constituents to do things they might not otherwise do,” Bovino said. “We don’t like that and it should never have taken place. But because Walz, because Walz and Frey, following the footsteps of those other governors, this happens.”
