Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Chief Patrol Agent Greg Bovino said he has received persistent death threats for more than a year and a half and blamed left-wing rhetoric for fueling violence against immigration officials.
Speaking on Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda," Bovino said the threats have become a regular occurrence while ICE agents and other federal officers increasingly face hostility during immigration enforcement operations.
"For the past year and a half, it's always come from the left," Bovino said. "Nothing but death threats, continual death threats."
Bovino said a new threat had surfaced just days earlier, calling it part of an ongoing pattern.
"That is ongoing and continuous," he said. "Unfortunately, it seems this type of violence and these threats, sometimes it works for the left."
He pointed to recent unrest in Minnesota as evidence that violent tactics can influence public officials.
"We need to meet these threats head-on and deal with it," Bovino said.
The former Border Patrol official also said elected leaders in Democrat-led cities have contributed to the hostile environment facing federal immigration officers.
"The city leaders, whether that's Mayor [Jacob] Frey of [Minneapolis] Minnesota, [Gov.] Gavin Newsom, or [Gov. J.B.] Pritzker in Chicago, any one of them, they continually stoke the fire of these anarchists and rioters," Bovino said.
He rejected describing violent demonstrators as protesters.
"Notice, I did not say protesters," Bovino said. "Anarchists and rioters. That's what this has turned into."
According to Bovino, demonstrations targeting immigration enforcement routinely become violent.
"They always turn violent," he said. "Every single one of these demonstrations always turns violent...they come to commit acts of violence."
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