Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied reports that Gregory Bovino was relieved from duty as the Border Patrol Chief and operational commander for Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties,” McLaughlin wrote in a post on X. “As @PressSec stated from the White House podium, @CMDROpAtLargeCA is a key part of the President’s team and a great American.”
McLaughlin’s post comes after multiple reports surfaced that Bovino had allegedly been sidelined, days after a Border Patrol agent-involved shooting occurred, resulting in Alex Pretti, 37, being left dead.
McLaughlin did not say if Bovino would remain in Minnesota to oversee the high-visibility operation in Minneapolis, where two locals have been killed by federal agents amid provocative riots by far-left radicals.
Conservative journalist Nick Sortor revealed in a post on X that he had exclusively “learned” that Bovino was “relieved of duty.”
“MAJOR BREAKING: Gregory Bovino has now been RELIEVED OF DUTY as Commander at Large of the U.S. Border Patrol, I’ve exclusive learned,” Sortor wrote.
A DHS official and “two people with knowledge” of the matter allegedly told the Atlantic that Bovino would be returning “to his former job in El Centro, California”:
Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to a DHS official and two people with knowledge of the change.
Bovino’s sudden demotion is the clearest sign yet that the Trump administration is reconsidering its most aggressive tactics after the killing Saturday of 37-year-old Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents under Bovino’s command.
In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump revealed that he had spoken to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and that they “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
“Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota,” Trump said. “It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength. I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession.”
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