Ousted Border Patrol commander to return to NC in retirement, report says
Greg Bovino, a former commander of the U.S. Border Patrol, is planning a quiet retirement in the backcountry of North Carolina, he said in a New York Times interview.
Well, relatively quiet.
Instead of spearheading Border Patrol missions to mass deport migrants and Latinos from the U.S., he’ll instead be hunting an invasive species of coyotes in his home state, Bovino said.
“Maybe I get me some dogs and we go hard on the coyotes,” he told The New York Times. “I’ll take it in my own hands.”
Bovino said the invasive, non-native coyotes were killing the local timber rattlesnakes.
Ties to North Carolina
Bovino’s history in North Carolina extends beyond him growing up in the western half of the Tar Heel state.
In November, Bovino led the Border Patrol’s Charlotte’s Web mission during which agents swept through neighborhoods arresting migrants and U.S. citizens. Agents targeted grocery stores, churches, and construction sites, smashing car windows and pulling people from vehicles or grabbing them at a hardware store parking lot.
More than 370 people were arrested during the operation, according to the government. People protested the agency’s deployment, and the city’s cultural corridor near Central Avenue saw many businesses close their doors temporarily. People avoided workplaces and students missed school.
Manolo’s Bakery, which became a hub of protests and activism during the operation, lost more than $50,000 from having to close shop.
Bovino and his agents left Charlotte after a week and continued operations in New Orleans and Minneapolis.
He was let go from his position in January after two U.S. citizens were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
