In an infuriating incident out of a showdown on a street in Chicago, Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino was attacked by a protester with a rock, and responded by throwing tear gas. As could be expected, the media took the incident and claimed that Bovino attacked a collection of peaceful protesters, ostensibly just for the fun of it or as a totally out-of-proportion response to a peaceful demonstration.
As background, the situation hit the headlines because an activist federal judge issued an order limiting the use of certain crowd control tactics at anti-ICE demonstrations, including limiting the use of chemical irritants like tear gas. The media thus tried to use the incident to paint Bovino as breaking the law.
What appears to have happened is that, during a scuffle in Chicago, Border Patrol Chief Bovino was hit in the head by a rock. As that escalated the situation from being a peaceful protest to a “mostly peaceful protest,” as CNN infamously called the 2020 riots, tear gas use was presumably justified to clear the violent crowd.
So, responding to having been hit in the head by a rock, something that could have been a deadly attack, Bovino threw a tear gas canister at the violent, anti-ICE mob, claiming that he had violated the judge’s order to not use tear gas against peaceful protesters, leaving out the fact that Chief Bovino had been hit in the head by a rock. That ridiculous CNN report, in turn, led to the network getting skewered online by those who knew the truth.
For example, the “Media Lies” X account said, “CNN says BP Chief Bovino potentially violated an order in Chicago barring the use of chemical agents against riotous crowds without warning. They left out important details, including DHS stating that multiple warnings were given, and Bovino was struck in the head by a rock.”
Similarly, Eric Daugherty, a conservative commentator on X, said, quoting CNN in his takedown of it, “🚨 BREAKING: Border Commander Greg Bovino has INFURIATED the left by throwing a tear gas canister at leftist rioters who threw ROCKS at Bovino and his men in Chicago. He did NOTHING wrong. He’s standing with his men and is absolutely crushing it right now! ‘Bovino appears to throw a tear gas canister toward anti-ICE protestors.’ ‘The DHS says protestors threw ROCKS, prompting Bovino to throw that canister of tear gas.’ Fully justified. Leave him alone, Democrats.”
Also chiming in was Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, who said, in a post on X that included the CNN clip at issue, “Of course @CNN refuses to mention rioters hit Chief Bovino in the head with a rock, which could have been deadly.”
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Watch the incident here:
Bovino was, in any case, attacked in a court filing made by a collection of activists, media types, and even local leftist clergy members, who claimed that he, during the incident in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood, “apparently threw tear gas into a crowd without justification.” It adds, “Defendant Bovino appears to throw either one or two tear gas canisters over the heads of armed federal agents in front of him and in the direction of a crowd.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video