News that Customs and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino will depart Minneapolis after an immigration agent shot and killed an ICU nurse over the weekend sparked outrage online.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Priscilla Alvarez, and Kristen Holmes reported on Monday that Bovino will leave Minneapolis as early as Tuesday. His departure happened after immigration agents expressed frustration with Bovino's characterization of slain ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, as a terrorist who wanted to "massacre" law enforcement.
The news did not sit well with some observers, who described it as an attempt by the Trump administration to cover its tracks.
"How does this help unless he's going to retirement or a prison? Wherever he goes, chaos will follow," David Bier, CATO Institute's director of immigration studies, posted on X.
"Bovino should be fired," conservative columnist Quinn Hilyard posted on X.
"So, it's about PR, not American lives," David Badash, founder of The New Civil Rights Movement, posted on X.
"Boo hoo," Jen Monroe, host of the "Ambitious Crossover Attempt" podcast, posted on X.
Pretti was gunned down by immigration agents on Saturday after he defended a woman who was shoved to the ground. Reports indicate as many as 10 bullets were fired into Pretti, who was subdued on the ground at the time the first shot was fired.
In the wake of his death, Trump administration officials attempted to paint Pretti as an imminent threat to law enforcement. However, videos captured by eyewitnesses appear to disprove nearly all of the claims Trump officials have levied against Pretti.