Greg Bovino, head of the U.S. Border Patrol, characterized his agents last weekend as the "victims" in the fatal shooting ofAlex Prettion Jan. 24 in Minneapolis, and applauded the agents who responded for "taking him down."
Bovino's comments came nearly 24 hours after Pretti was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis. In the Sunday, Jan. 25 interview with CNN, Bovino did not provide evidence to support allegations that Alex Pretti intended to hurt or kill authorities in Minneapolis.
"With respect, it feels as though in some ways, you're blaming the victim here," "State of the Union" host Dana Bash said nearly halfway through the interview.
"The victims are the Border Patrol agents. I'm not blaming the Border Patrol agents," Bovino said in response. "The victims are the Border Patrol agents. The suspect put himself in that situation."
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Bovino repeatedly referred to Pretti as a "suspect" in the interview and did not respond to a question from Bash about why he was using the phrase, typically used to describe a person law enforcement is investigating for a crime. When asked to explain why the 37-year-old nurse was shot multiple times, the Border Patrol chief also did not elaborate about the previous statement he'd made on Jan. 24 that Pretti intended to inflict "maximum damage and massacre law enforcement" agents.
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In bystander footage of the shooting, Pretti, whom authorities confirmed had a permit to carry a gun, is seen holding a phone. He cannot be seen wielding his firearm in the videos. When pressed by Bash over the course of the 20-minute interview, Bovino offered no new details or evidence supporting a statement by Homeland Security SecretaryKristi Noemthat Pretti was brandishing a weapon, but appeared to double down on the allegations that Pretti put the agents in danger.
Bovino applauded the agents' conduct and said they prevented Pretti from harming law enforcement.
"I believe that the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have, the fact that they're highly trained, prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement," Bovino said. "So good job for our law enforcement in taking him down before he was able to do that."
Bovino told CNN that the facts would "come to light" after an investigation, and sidestepped questions from Bash asking to explain whyvideo footage of Pretti's shootingappeared to contradict his and DHS officials' portrayals.
At one point, Bash pressed Bovino after he stated Pretti intended to "assault" federal law enforcement, pointing to video footage.
"Where do you see in the video that he was assaulting law enforcement?" Bash asked. "Because from everything we have seen, law enforcement was assaulting him when he was there trying to help another individual."
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"Dana, law enforcement doesn't assault anyone," Bovino said. "Follow directions of law enforcement in an active crime scene − it's very evident he didn't want to do that. It's very evident that the other individuals didn't want to do that, and it's too bad the consequences had to be paid because he injected himself into that crime scene."
Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her atkapalmer@usatoday.comand on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletterhere.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Greg Bovino calls agents victims in Pretti shooting