Minneapolis shooting: Former CBP head says Border Patrol 'wrong unit' for city operations

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Weeks before a Border Patrol agent repeatedly and fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a former Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection said Border Patrol is the "wrong" unit for operations in major U.S. cities.

Border Patrol agent fatally shoots Minneapolis man

What we know:

A Border Patrol agent repeatedly and fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis Saturday morning.

Border Patrol Commissioner Gregory Bovino quickly justified the agent's actions.

"We will not allow violence against our law enforcement officers," he said.

Border Portal agents not trained for urban cities

Big picture view:

Gil Kerlikowske, the former Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says Border Patrol agents are not trained to operate in urban cities like Minneapolis.

"Border Patrol is called the Border Patrol because they work on the border. They work in rural, rugged environments, oftentimes without backup," Kerlikowske told the FOX 9 Investigators earlier this month.

"So this isn't the kind of being parachuted into a city like Los Angeles or Portland or Minneapolis or Chicago where they have the skill set or the experience or the training."

Kerlikowske has provided sworn declarations in multiple lawsuits over ICE and Border Patrol tactics in other cities subjected to special immigration operations.

He said last year that he does not think that DHS’ use of force policies are designed for protest or civil disturbance settings and does not believe that DHS agents have followed their own use of force standards.

A federal judge eventually found DHS officials' "widespread misrepresentations call into question everything" they claimed to be happening to operations in the Chicago area.

"The judges have listened to the declarations, they've listened to testimony, they've reviewed the videos, they've, judge after judge has come to this conclusion that these operations are clearly outside the normal practice of any law enforcement agency," Kerlikowske told the FOX 9 Investigators.

Despite numerous judicial rulings, Bovino has continued to claim his agents' actions are "exemplary."

He said the agent who repeatedly fired at a man on the ground Saturday morning has worked for Border Patrol for eight years and is well-trained.

"The officer has extensive training as a range safety officer and (is) a less-lethal training officer," he said. 

Bovino ‘outright lying’

The backstory:

Bovino, who has been found to be "outright lying" about his agents' use of force during previous operations, repeated claims that agents with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been repeatedly attacked during operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and now Minneapolis.

"Across the country, the men and women of DHS have been attacked, shot at, doxxed, had their family members threatened, and we have seen more than one hundred vehicle rammings over the past year against federal law enforcement officers," Bovino said.

A federal judge found DHS claims about the number of vehicle attacks were also "difficult" to believe.

Kerlikowske, who describes himself as a long-time defender of Border Patrol and ICE, blames DHS leadership and the Trump Administration for putting agents in cities like Minneapolis.

"I don't think we've seen any evidence whatsoever in any of these cities, including Minneapolis, where they've attempted to de-esclate the situation," Kerlikowske said. "The Border Patrol is clearly the wrong kind of unit to put in an urban environment."