Dana Bash Pushes Back on Border Patrol Commander’s Alex Pretti Narrative: ‘Where Do You Have the Evidence?’ | Video
There is so far “no evidence” VA nurse Alex Pretti was “doing anything other than being peaceful” before he was fatally shot Saturday, “State of the Union” host Dana Bash told US Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino on Sunday.
The conversation between Bovino and Bash began on the topic of Pretti’s death. After he was asked for evidence that Pretti actually brandished a weapon — and not a cell phone, which has been visible in videos of the shooting — Bovino first insisted agents “do know that the suspect did bring a weapon, a loaded 9- millimeter high-capacity handgun, to a riot. We do know that.”
Pretti was a licensed gun owner in the state of Minnesota.
“As far as what happened in that intervening moment with the video that you just showed, that’s going to come to light through the investigation. That’s being investigated. And those facts and those questions will be answered soon enough,” Bovino continued.
Bash then reminded Bovino that Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem did not wait for an investigation before she falsely accused Pretti of “brandishing a weapon” and asked if he personally had “seen something different to support what the secretary said.”
“Dana, I think what we need to take a look at here is the situation in its totality. What happened leading up to this situation?” Bovino deflected. “The suspect decided to inject himself into a law enforcement action. What’s not being said here is the fact that Border Patrol agents and law enforcement were conducting a targeted law enforcement effort against a violent illegal alien that was nearby, and that suspect injected himself into that law enforcement situation with a weapon.”
Bash further questioned statements from ICE, Border Patrol and the Trump administration that Pretti planned to “massacre law enforcement.” Bovino again avoided directly answering the question and posed one of his own: “Did he fall victim to that violent and heated rhetoric by a Mayor Frey, a Governor Walz? Look, Dana, they’re trying to portray Border Patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi and many other words. Did this individual fall victim, as many others have, to that type of heated rhetoric?”
“All of the video that we have seen shows him documenting it with his cell phone, which is a lawful thing to do. And the only time he seemed to interact with law enforcement is when they went after him when he was trying to help an individual who law enforcement pushed down,” Bash answered. “So where do you have the evidence to show that he was trying to impede that law enforcement operation?”
Bovino answered that Pretti’s first offense was being present at the scene and filming — which is not illegal.
“So, when somebody is pushed down and a person’s instinct is to help that person, when somebody is pushed down by law enforcement, you’re saying that you just stand back and let law enforcement do what they’re doing? Is that really human nature?” she asked.
“You know, Dana, every situation is different. What our officers are faced with here in Minneapolis are chaotic, very difficult and violent situations in which individuals — and this suspect is not the only one to bring a loaded weapon to a riot,” he answered, before later adding that “The victims are the Border Patrol agents. The suspect put himself in that situation. The victims are the Border Patrol agents there.”
Bash later switched the topic to Pretti’s First and Second Amendment rights.
“Both the police chief in Minneapolis, O’Hara, and Governor Walz say Pretti was legally licensed to carry a concealed weapon. So are you saying it’s not OK for him to exercise his Second Amendment right, not to mention his First Amendment right to be there in the first place, but his Second Amendment right to carry a gun? And, if you do, you can be shot by federal law enforcement?”
Bovino insisted he “never said that” and added, “What I’m saying is, we respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don’t — those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct, and impede law enforcement officers, and most especially when you mean to do that beforehand.”
Toward the end of the pair’s conversation Bash asked, “Do you accept that it is the law that an individual has a right to film what law enforcement is doing?”
“I believe that all citizens of the United States have those First and Fourth Amendment rights, as long as they do so peacefully and don’t delay, obstruct, or assault anyone in doing that. And that’s the issue here because he was not peacefully doing anything,” Bovino replied.
“All right,” Bash answered. “And just for the record — and we have seen this video multiple times from multiple angles — there is no evidence that he was doing anything other than being peaceful until the altercation began.”
Watch the exchange between Dana Bash and Gregory Bovino in the videos above.
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