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Gregory Bovino is now under criminal investigation

Local prosecutors are forced to build criminal cases and a public evidence portal because federal agencies are withholding information that should enable lawful accountability for federal agents.

Judiciary

⚖ Legal Exposure

Ethics Violation

Likely Unlawful

Potentially Criminal

Likely Criminal

A federal CBP/Border Patrol commander is alleged on video to have thrown a gas canister at protesters/observers, releasing chemical irritants, and local prosecutors have placed the incident within an active criminal investigation set. On these allegations, there is substantial exposure for excessive-force/rights-deprivation under color of law and parallel state assault or reckless endangerment-type charges, subject to evidence on necessity, warnings, intent, and injury.

Sources

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2026/03/cbp-border-patrol-bovino-minneapolis-criminal-investigation

Summary

Hennepin County has opened a criminal investigation into former Customs and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino’s use of chemical irritants during the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, one of 17 investigations now underway. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced a new Transparency and Accountability Project that relies on local prosecutors, a civilian investigator, and community-submitted evidence amid federal refusal to provide information. The practical consequence is that local authorities are moving to build accountability cases against federal agents while warning that litigation may follow if federal agencies keep withholding evidence.

Reality Check

When federal authorities withhold crime scene evidence from local prosecutors, our system of accountability breaks at the seam where federal power meets local rule of law. Normalizing evidence denial turns oversight into theater and teaches agencies they can operate beyond meaningful review. This precedent weakens core guardrails—transparent investigations, prosecutorial access to facts, and the public’s expectation that official force is subject to independent scrutiny.

Legal Summary

Legal Analysis

18 U.S.C. § 242 — Deprivation of rights under color of law

Alleged conduct shows a federal official (CBP/Border Patrol commander) using force (throwing a gas canister) against protesters/observers during an operation, i.e., acting under color of law.
If the deployment was not justified by lawful crowd-control necessity and targeted nonviolent gatherings/observers as described, it supports willful use of unreasonable force depriving constitutional rights (e.g., First/Fourth Amendment interests).
Gaps: article does not specify injuries, dispersal orders, threat level, or Bovino’s stated justification; those facts are central to willfulness and reasonableness but the recorded footage and county criminal investigation indicate plausible elements.

18 U.S.C. § 241 — Conspiracy against rights (potential)

“Operation Metro Surge” and broader described pattern (tear gassing nonviolent gatherings, detaining children, abuses against protesters/observers) could support a theory of coordinated action to suppress protected activity.
Gaps: no explicit agreement among agents is described; would require evidence of coordination or directives linking participants to an unlawful objective.

Minnesota assault / reckless endangerment-type offenses (state-law exposure; exact charging statute not specified in article)

Throwing a chemical irritant canister into a crowd, releasing gas potentially containing toxicants, can constitute unlawful application of force or reckless conduct creating risk of bodily harm.
The county attorney publicly lists Bovino’s conduct among 17 active criminal investigations, indicating state prosecutors view the incident as potentially chargeable.
Gaps: the article does not detail who was exposed or harmed, distance, warnings, or compliance with use-of-force policies.

Conclusion: This matter presents likely illegal, potentially criminal exposure centered on alleged excessive force under color of law and state assault/recklessness theories, not merely a procedural irregularity, pending fact development about justification, intent, and harm.

Media

Detail

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Monday that it is conducting 17 criminal investigations tied to incidents during the Department of Homeland Security’s “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota. County Attorney Mary Moriarty said one investigation involves former Customs and Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino’s use of chemical irritants.

Footage recorded by activist Ben Luhmann shows Bovino throwing a gas canister at protesters and observers in Mueller Park in Minneapolis on January 21; the canister released green gas. Duke University School of Medicine professor Sven-Eric Jordt, described as a tear gas expert, said the gas may contain lead and chromium.

Moriarty also announced a Transparency and Accountability Project to examine the 17 cases, staffed by prosecutors and a civilian investigator from the county office. The project includes a portal for community members to submit photos, video, and eyewitness accounts related to potentially unlawful conduct by federal agents, which Moriarty said responds to federal authorities’ refusal to provide information. Moriarty said she would consider suing federal authorities if they continue withholding crime scene evidence in the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis.

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⚖ Legal Exposure

Ethics Violation

Likely Unlawful

Potentially Criminal

Likely Criminal

The article describes alleged high-level interference with a death investigation and pressure to alter warrant framing to avoid treating the deceased as a “victim,” indicating politicized misuse of investigative authority. This creates substantial obstruction/ethics exposure and warrants investigation, but the provided facts do not yet establish the concrete corrupt acts and nexus elements needed to rate it as likely criminal quid-pro-quo or clearly prosecutable obstruction.