A Jan.. 17 Newsmax article stated:
Chief Border Patrol Agent Greg Bovino, in a Newsmax interview on Saturday, disputed claims that federal immigration agents in Minneapolis are “grabbing American citizens off the street,” calling such reports “a flat-out lie” as protests and political tensions swirl around ICE operations in Minnesota.
However, Bovino told Newsmax’s “The Count” that citizens who commit crimes, including assaults on officers, will be arrested.
“As far as American citizens, if you assault a federal officer or any law enforcement officer, that’s 18 U.S.C. 111 assault on a federal officer,” Bovino said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re an illegal alien, an American citizen, or you could be an alien from outer space,” he added. “We are going to arrest you, and we’re not going to put up with that.”
Bovino is clearly lying, as ProPublica details:
Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. One of those women had already had the door of her home blown off while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watched.
About two dozen Americans have said they were held for more than a day without being able to phone lawyers or loved ones.
[…]We compiled and reviewed every case we could find of agents holding citizens against their will, whether during immigration raids or protests. While the tally is almost certainly incomplete, we found more than 170 such incidents during the first nine months of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Among the citizens detained are nearly 20 children, including two with cancer. That includes four who were held for weeks with their undocumented mother and without access to the family’s attorney until a congresswoman intervened.
Newsmax has yet to correct the record on Bovino’s claim.