Gavin Newsom Shreds ‘Gestapo Greg’ Bovino For Shooting Excuse | EUROtoday

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) ramped up his criticisms of U.S. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino this weekend following Bovino’s makes an attempt to justify the lethal taking pictures of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti.

Appearing on CNN Sunday, Bovino claimed Border Patrol brokers had tried to make use of “deescalation techniques” on Pretti, 37, earlier than in the end gunning him down on the street.

“He was in the scene actively impeding and assaulting law enforcement to the point,” Bovino mentioned in a tense dialog with CNN’s Dana Bash. When Bash argued that Pretti had merely been filming ICE officers on the time of his demise, Bovino shot again: “He was there for a reason, and that reason was to impede law enforcement.”

It didn’t take lengthy for Newsom to react to Bovino’s feedback.

“Gestapo Greg says filming ICE agents with your cell phone is assault and justifies them shooting you in cold blood,” the governor wrote Sunday on X by way of his press workplace, likening Bovino to the key police of Germany and German-occupied Europe throughout World War II.

Responding to one more section from Bovino’s CNN look, Newsom known as Pretti’s demise “absolutely unacceptable.”

“They shot an American in cold blood! For exercising First Amendment rights our Founders fought to defend and enshrine in our Constitution,” he wrote.

Newsom has beforehand evoked Nazi Germany whereas discussing Bovino, who has served as a senior official with the U.S. Border Patrol since 2019.

Speaking on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, final week, Newsom in contrast Bovino’s calf-length inexperienced trenchcoat to “SS garb,” echoing a declare that had emerged on social media following Bovino’s go to to Minneapolis earlier this month after the deadly taking pictures of Renee Nicole Good, additionally 37.

Bovino, nevertheless, has principally laughed off Newsom’s jabs. In an interview with NewsNation final week, Bovino mentioned his coat was “definitely Border Patrol-issued” and had been in his possession for “over 25 years.”

He additionally identified that he’d worn the coat to an official occasion in 2021, when President Joe Biden was in workplace, and had “received nothing but compliments” on the time.

“Fast forward a few years to this administration, all of a sudden it’s a problem,” he mentioned. “Hey, what changed there? Why is it a problem now [and not] during the last administration?”