Gregory Bovino faces criminal investigation after Minneapolis killings

In December 2025, the Trump administration deployed 3,000 federal agents to Minneapolis-St. Paul in an operation DHS called its largest ever. Border Patrol Commander-at-Large GBGregory Bovino ran the operation on the ground. Bovino had built a reputation for aggressive tactics in 2025, overseeing enforcement raids in Chicago, Charlotte, and Los Angeles. Trump praised him publicly, posting that Bovino went scorched earth on Democratic governors.

On January 7, 2026, an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and U.S. citizen, during an enforcement encounter in Minneapolis. The killing triggered protests across the city. Seventeen days later, on January 24, CBP officers shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, also 37, a VA hospital nurse and U.S. citizen. Pretti was filming agents with his phone and stepped between an officer and a woman the officer had pushed to the ground. Bystander video reviewed by Reuters, the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, and the Associated Press showed Pretti was pepper-sprayed and struck multiple times before shots were fired.

ProPublica identified the two officers who shot Pretti through government records: Border Patrol agent JOJesus Ochoa, 43, and CBP officer RGRaymundo Gutierrez, 35. Both were assigned to Operation Metro Surge. The day after the killing, Bovino called both Pretti and Good suspects at a press conference. He said: You are correct, two suspects have been shot. Bovino also claimed Pretti had brandished his firearm. Video evidence directly contradicted this. The gun was not visible until after officers pinned Pretti to the ground. It was removed from him seconds before shots were fired.

The operation cost Minneapolis more than $200 million in January alone. Local businesses lost $81 billion in revenue. Workers lost $47 million in wages. Hotels lost $4.7 million from cancellations. More than 76,000 people experienced food insecurity. Over 8,700 school-age children needed emergency food services. Mental health providers reported a 50 percent drop in client contact. Churches, schools, and coffee shops set up food distribution for immigrant families sheltering at home out of fear of ICE.

🦆Minnesota officials pushed back hard. On January 28, Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz found that ICE had violated at least 96 court orders in Minnesota since January 1. Judge Jerry Blackwell said the overwhelming majority of ICE cases he saw involved people lawfully present in the United States. Minnesota and 🌽Illinois, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed federal lawsuits against DHS. Minnesota invoked the Tenth Amendment, arguing the mass deployment of federal agents to perform general policing duties amounted to an unconstitutional commandeering of state authority.

After national protests intensified, Trump turned on Bovino. Bovino was demoted and reassigned to his former post in El Centro, 🌴California. White House border czar THTom Homan replaced him in 🦆Minnesota and announced on February 12 that the surge would wind down. Accountability questions followed Bovino. On March 2, 2026, Hennepin County Attorney MMMary Moriarty announced her office was investigating 17 instances of potentially unlawful conduct by federal agents. Bovino himself is under investigation for using a chemical irritant near Mueller Park on January 21, 2026. Video captured him saying: Gas is coming. Get back.

The federal government resisted state investigations at every level. DHS issued a statement asserting that federal officers acting in the course of their duties are immune from state law prosecution. The Department of Justice opened a civil rights inquiry into Pretti's death but declined to investigate Good's death. The FBI barred state investigators from accessing evidence in her case. Moriarty said her office is prepared to sue the federal government to obtain evidence and described the federal response to her document requests as already obstructing the investigation.