The messaging over the Alex Pretti shooting on January 24 from the Trump administration was abysmal. There’s no other way around it. Top Trump officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel, and even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, peddled totally incorrect information, focused on the minutiae, or outright went off the rails regarding the incident. Fox News’ Bill Melugin said sources inside DHS are not pleased with Noem going all-in trying to frame Pretti as some domestic terrorist planning a mass casualty event. Patel focused on Pretti being armed and having multiple magazines. The latter isn’t even relevant; the former is just wrong: Patel said you couldn’t bring guns to protests. You most certainly can.
As for Pretti not having his carry permit on him, well, dying on the hill of a petty misdemeanor isn’t smart either. Carrying without a permit in the state is a $25 fine; it doesn’t add you to a prohibited persons list regarding gun ownership, your gun isn’t subject to seizure, and your permit isn’t revoked.
Someone had to be made an example of. And even though Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino had some great soundbites, like the number of illegals we want deported is all of them, he seems to be the fall guy here. He’s reportedly been locked out of his social media accounts, and there was a brief moment where it looked as if Bovino was fired.
🚨 *GREGORY BOVINO REMOVED FROM HIS ROLE AS BORDER PATROL "COMMANDER AT LARGE" pic.twitter.com/6deal6iNzv
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 27, 2026
DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM AND CLOSE ADVISER COREY LEWANDOWSKI AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR JOBS: THE ATLANTIC
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) January 26, 2026
He’s relieved of his role as commander at large, not as the chief of El Centro sector https://t.co/KhnNbDpALi
— Jennie Taer (@JennieSTaer) January 27, 2026
#BREAKING @CMDROpAtLargeCA has been “relieved of command” as Commander-at-Large—His access to all social media accounts have been suspended.
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) January 27, 2026
He is going back to the El Centro sector where he was chief according to sources.
This comes as @RealTomHoman is in Minnesota tonight.
Wow. Per @priscialva, DHS has suspended Gregory Bovino’s access to his social media accounts effective immediately. He spent yesterday responding to people who were criticizing him and raising questions about his unverified claims about Pretti.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) January 27, 2026
Not the case: He's re-entering an old role, before he got the commander-at-large title. The Department of Homeland Security also pushed back, saying he wasn’t relieved but would be sent back to El Centro, California, where he was chief of that sector.
But this rehashes a story from last October, in which Border Patrol leadership absorbed the top positions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We have an agency rivalry here. It’s become a process story.
There was some hesitancy on my end since The Atlantic reported on it. Still, the statement from DHS spokesperson Tricial McLaughin also seemed to hint heavily that the man, while not truly demoted or fired, was part of a restructure and a retooling of his duties.
Chief Gregory Bovino has NOT been relieved of his duties. As @PressSec stated from the White House podium, @CMDROpAtLargeCA is a key part of the President’s team and a great American. https://t.co/qj3E9B8uzg
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) January 27, 2026
Border Czar Tom Homan will now oversee all deportation operations in Minneapolis.