At a Sunday press conference, Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino laid blame for the chaos in Minneapolis after Saturday’s deadly shooting squarely on Democrats — then immediately pivoted to attacking Republican lawmakers on social media who voiced their own concern over the incident.
“Someone might want to take Greg Bovino's phone away from him,” wrote Max Steele, the senior communications director for a Florida-based gun safety advocacy organization, in a social media post on X. “He's spending his afternoon picking fights with GOP Senators, GOP House members, and gun owners on twitter.”
Several Border Patrol officers pepper-sprayed, beat and fatally shot 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti on Saturday, video shows. It sparked bipartisan outrage across the nation.
While Democratic lawmakers have almost universally condemned the shooting – with at least one notable exception – Republican lawmakers’ responses have been more tepid, though some have come out against against those defending the Border Patrol officers’ actions, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
On Sunday, Massie argued that carrying a firearm — as Pretti was lawfully doing when he was killed — should not be “a death sentence,” and defended Pretti’s right to carry as a "Constitutionally protected God-given right.” Massie’s comments didn’t sit well with Bovino, however, who fired back at the Kentucky lawmaker on social media.
“Attacking law enforcement is not a right like you want it to be,” Bovino wrote to Massie in a social media post on X.
Another Republican lawmaker, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, also voiced concern over the incident, calling it on social media “incredibly disturbing,” warning that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” and calling for a joint federal and state investigation to be carried out.
Again, Bovino fired off at the lawmaker, and suggested that Minnesota officials were incapable of conducting a legitimate investigation into the incident.
“The same state that refuses to work with ICE is now going to ‘investigate’?” Bovino wrote in a social media post on X. “How about investigating a certain mayor who told cops to fight ICE in the streets. You don't seem concerned about that - how come, senator?”Someone might want to take Greg Bovino's phone away from him. He's spending his afternoon picking fights with GOP Senators, GOP House members, and gun owners on twitter. pic.twitter.com/ZfOiFrZJSF
— Max Steele (@maxasteele) January 25, 2026