Former Border Patrol Chief Calls Minneapolis Pullout a 'Surrender'

The former Border Patrol Chief described the pullout from Minneapolis as a surrender by the Trump administration. Greg Bovino, the former US border patrol chief who became the public face of the Minneapolis deportation drive, has defended the operation and described the later withdrawal of agents as a 'surrender' by the Trump administration. He made the remarks in an interview with the BBC.

Bovino also said he was 'not responding' to a lawsuit brought by the family of a woman killed during the operation. He appeared to wave away the legal action, praising the officers sent to Minneapolis and saying 'people do lawsuits all the time'.

The 56-year-old was removed from his role shortly after US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot dead in January. Both shootings were captured on video and set off a bipartisan backlash and widespread protests. President Donald Trump then said he was 'going to de-escalate a little bit' and pulled hundreds of immigration agents out of the city. About 700 agents left the state, and the White House 'border tsar' Tom Homan took over the operation.

Earlier this month, Good's family filed two civil lawsuits against the administration, alleging wrongful death and a conspiracy to interfere with the civil rights of protesters. One names several senior officials, including Bovino and Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot Good, 'for their respective individual roles in the operation that led to Renee's death'. It argues the operation created 'an unprecedented environment for state-sponsored violence'. A White House spokeswoman has previously called the lawsuits 'baseless'.

Responding to Bovino's comments, the family's lawyers said he was 'spewing propaganda' and could not be 'judge, jury and executioner'. They added that their legal team 'looks forward to the depositions of Mr Bovino and all of the defendants in this matter'.