Bovino to leave Minneapolis as White House walks back initial claims about Alex Pretti<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
Hello and welcome to our live coverage.<\/p>\n
Gregory Bovino<\/strong>, the commander of the Border Patrol<\/strong>, is expected to leave<\/a> Minneapolis<\/strong> today following the weekend killing of Alex Pretti<\/strong>, the second civilian to be fatally gunned down in the streets by federal immigration agents this month.<\/p>\n Bovino, an aggressive promoter of Donald Trump<\/strong>\u2019s deportation agenda, has become the public face of the administration\u2019s immigration crackdown in Minnesota<\/strong> \u2013 and a lightning rod for criticism from Democrats<\/strong> and civil liberties activists.<\/p>\n An unnamed source told Reuters that Bovino had been stripped of his specially created title of \u201ccommander at large\u201d of the Border Patrol, but the Department of Homeland Security<\/strong> has pushed back on the demotion reports. \u201cChief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,\u201d the DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin<\/strong> said, pointing to earlier comments from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt,<\/strong> praising Bovino as a \u201ckey part of the president\u2019s team and a great American\u201d.<\/p>\n Leavitt spent Monday\u2019s press briefing walking back<\/a> initial claims made by senior administration officials about Pretti. Stephen Miller,<\/strong> the deputy chief of staff, called the victim<\/a> \u201ca domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate law enforcement\u201d, and Kristi Noem<\/strong>, the homeland security secretary, accused him of perpetrating<\/a> \u201cthe definition of domestic terrorism\u201d \u2013 characterizations that have been undercut by video footage that showed Pretti getting shot in the back multiple times after being tackled to the ground by a group of US border patrol agents whom he had been filming, and disarmed of his gun.<\/p>\n Trump himself on Monday said he had a “a very good call\u201d with Tim Walz<\/strong>, the Minnesota<\/a> governor, who he had perviously blamed for Pretti\u2019s death. Walz said on X that he had a \u201cproductive\u201d call with Trump, who had agreed to look at pulling federal agents out of the state and committed to talking to DHS about allowing the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension<\/strong> is able to conduct an independent investigation into the shootings by federal agents, which would include the one earlier this month that killed Renee Nicole Good<\/strong>, a 37-year-old mother of three.<\/p>\n More to come.<\/p>\n