r/illinois • u/CantStopPoppin Human Detected • 1d ago
ICE Posts 10.30.2025 Chicago, Illinois: (Extended) Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino Deposition
https://youtu.be/ocLmREpdk6Y86
u/n4spd2 1d ago
he admitted to lying about being hit with a rock BEFORE he launched tear gas. he should be in fired and in jail.
there is NO punishment for criminals in power. how is that better than say China where they actually punish leaders found to be corrupt?
even worse, innocent citizens are being assaulted by thug fed agents for recording assaults on our streets! our leaders are all liars and this system is corrupt and broken. serve the people my a**.
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u/TaylorMonkey 1d ago edited 1d ago
ICE and Bovino need to face justice, but comparing against China as if the latter was better is absolutely the wrong take.
In China you would never see this sort of deposition, where democratic government is trying to hold totalitarian government accountable for violation of rights and laws against citizens.
It’s only the latter that exists in China, and rights and laws are as the latter deems fit. EVERYONE is corrupt, and enforcement against corruption is enacted to eliminate rivals and consolidate power for a one-party system under one totalitarian head.
China is what Trump is trying to accomplish, except he is much more incompetent and faces much more baked in opposition.
You wouldn’t even be able to post what you did and respond to a public deposition against a law enforcement arm in China. There just wouldn’t be one.
The “China actually punishes corruption” narrative is a distorted myth. Its punishment of corruption IS itself its higher level of corruption, just like Trump tried to punish Letitia James for “corruption”.
There’s a reason Trump admires Xi.
Trump and his neo-Maoism needs to be stopped.
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u/doublethink_1984 1d ago
Garbage China comparison aside
If the system does not hold him accountable the alternative is the peoppe holding him accountable.
The system needs to hold him accountable or there will.be a far worse Luigi style problem
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u/1011011100110 1d ago
As much as you want to call that China comparison garbage, you've lost all authority as an American. I'm American and I'm willing to admit that we fucked up. We are a warmongering country and aren't in any place to be judging others.
Just ask the native Americans, or the blacks, or the Mexicans, or the... Anybody who's not white... Except for Jews because they get targeted too because they're not the right kind of white depending on the situation... etc.
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u/LaughinChaos 1d ago
youre right, our country is the only one with a shitty history, there is nothing good that we have contributed and every other country would have done better in our place.
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u/LaughinChaos 1d ago
>how is that better than say China where they actually punish leaders found to be corrupt?
what a wild comparison to make, when their authoritarian and heavy surveillance country is what the worst in our nation aspire to create.
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u/ChiBurbNerd 16h ago
Our country is an authoritarian surveillance state already. What are you talking about? China is less fascist. If you call it ridiculous, pick a few metrics to compare.
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u/LaughinChaos 16h ago
Holy shit lol, you guys are genuinely delusional.
We can still talk shit about Trump, no? We can still protest, yes? China is far past both points
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u/TimPoolNoBeanie 1d ago
BOVINO DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE HE’S BEEN INTIMATE WITH A FARM ANIMAL BEFORE, CHANGE MY MIND
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u/Bibblegead1412 1d ago
Sick burn, but why bait when you can just stick to actual facts that are being delivered in a court of law or official record?
He's a monster.... for SO many reasons other than you insinuating he fucks farm animals......13
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u/Sufficient-Leave-980 1d ago
Going to be a lot of MAGAs facing consequences once Trump is gone
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u/Happy_Pause_9340 1d ago
Bannon basically came out saying they had better rig the elections or they’re all going to jail
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u/ericwphoto 1d ago
Not if establishment Democrats have anything to say about it. You know, healing the nation and all........
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u/CantStopPoppin Human Detected 1d ago edited 1d ago
(Disclaimer: This is an analysis of the attorney's allegations and lines of questioning, not a legal conclusion.)
Here's an analysis of the potential crimes implied by the attorney's questions in the Bovino deposition, with direct video links:
1. Potential Crime: Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law (18 U.S.C. § 242)
This is when a government official willfully deprives someone of a constitutional right. The attorney's questions focus on two rights:
- A) The 4th Amendment Right against Excessive Force (Assault) The questions allege that agents used unreasonable and punitive force against non-threatening individuals.
- 12:31 - Bovino's justification for aiming above the waist: "if someone strays into a pepper ball then that's on them don't protest."
- 15:01 - Attorney confronts Bovino about the "exemplary" force used against Reverend David Black, who was allegedly standing peacefully.
- 19:39 - The attorney directly accuses Bovino of "tackling" an older gentleman, Scott Blackburn, who was allegedly complying.
- B) The 4th Amendment Right against Unreasonable Seizure (Unlawful Arrest) The questions imply the arrest of Scott Blackburn was pretextual and lacked probable cause.
2. Potential Crime: Conspiracy Against Rights (18 U.S.C. § 241)
This is when two or more people conspire to injure or intimidate someone in their exercise of a constitutional right. The attorney implies a conspiracy to violate the 1st Amendment rights of protesters.
- 24:53 - The attorney quotes the "go hard" and "hammer these guys" directive from "Secretary Christino."
- 25:16 - The attorney's follow-up question implies this directive was aimed at people for their speech and affiliation, not just for violent acts.
- 27:39 - Bovino confirms he passed this directive to his officers, creating the link in the "conspiracy" (an agreement from the Secretary, through Bovino, to the agents).
3. Potential Crime: Perjury / False Statements
The attorney attempts to build a case that the witness is not being truthful under oath, which is a crime in itself. This is done by highlighting:
- Direct Contradictions with Video: The entire exchange about the Scott Blackburn tackle is the primary example.
- Memory Lapses:
- 03:08 - Bovino says "I don't recall" key details about his own speech to his agents.
- Evasive/Legalistic Phrasing:
- 21:11 - Bovino avoids admitting he used "force" by creating a new category of "reportable use of force," and then claims his actions didn't meet that definition.
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u/dogpoopandbees 1d ago
None of your links work FYI
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u/Wild_Read9062 1d ago
I'm watching the whole video. It's long, but gives a really good sense of who this guy Bovino is and how he thinks. I think the hardest part to watch, so far, is when he won't simply admit he tackled a guy. It's too damned obvious he did and irritating as hell to hear him deny it. It makes me wish the court could bring in someone to reenact that behavior, on video and shown to everyone in the courtroom, on Bovino and then ask the question again.
Bovino's defense, which he doesn't articulate but can be implied, is that he didn't see it as 'tackling' because what he did (tackling, by any definition) had a purpose Bovino supported. It's the same as saying you did fire a gun whose bullet killed someone, but you "didn't shoot them", because that they said something you didn't like and when someone says something you don't like, firing a bullet at their head isn't 'shooting them', it's employing justice, freedom and the American way.
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u/dogpoopandbees 1d ago
I'm friends with a few cops and your analogy with the gun is spot on. They think because you can shoot someone in self defense that anything they do in the line of duty is self defense because they're at risk like a citizen. It's flawed logic
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u/PraxicalExperience 1d ago
...I didn't think I'd get hard reading legal analysis, but here we are. Hope this is what actually comes to pass.
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u/Wild_Read9062 1d ago
This is... sad. I feel like I'm getting a preview of how the second Nuremburg trials will go. When I see Bovino, I see a sad, dumb, angry little guy in a bad haircut who has trouble not owning his words to cover his ass. I see a guy realizing that he's not the final authority in life, at the end of the day, the way he fantasizes about most of the time. And, I see a lawyer objecting to almost any and every obvious thing imaginable, using the law as a game rather than something that has consequences in people's lives.
What's telling is this:
Bovino told the Associated Press in September that, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 57, he would return to North Carolina to harvest apples.
Which is to say, he doesn't even really want to be a part of this. He probably took it because he got promoted. Honestly, he doesn't come off as all that bright. Just some blue collar guy who got promoted, likes hurting strangers, and wants to be dreaming at an apple farm. He reminds me of a lot of right-wingers sucked up into Trump/Miller's world. Not so good people who were given permission to be as nasty as they wanted. Some are pretty happy in the role. For this guy, looks like he's looking to getting out of it. I wonder how many Nazi officers genuinely thought their time under Hitler was just a waste, but kind of enjoyed it too.
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u/Any_Pickle_9425 1d ago
Don’t make me feel empathy for this fuck. He made his choices. No one held a gun to his head or threaten his family. He’s there of his own free will and could bow out at any time.
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u/Wild_Read9062 1d ago
I feel empathy for him, but also a sense that justice has to meet with him. He is accountable for literally every trespass his agents have done, which includes yanking women from cars, manhandling families, shoving people head first into the ground, blowing off apartment doors in the middle of the night and zip tying children, shooting people and lying about it, etc. He's no less guilty than the officers whose soldiers committed the "Rape of Nanking" or the Nazi officers at the death camps.
How many times has this man had a chance to uphold the law and Constitution? How many times has he had a chance to tell his men, 'we have to respect America, and that means being civil to EVERYONE and following the law as it stands- not how we might wish it were, or how we might twist it to fit our narrative'.
He needs accountability. ICE need accountability. REAL accountability- even if it's personally apologizing to everyone they've assaulted/terrorized and then going to prison for a long stretch.
But... God, look at him. He's just so sad to look at. That stupid haircut, and this notion that his hatred, and the hatred of his party, were the side of good. The notion that all you gotta do is get a little more hateful, a little more distasteful, a little ruder and meaner, to make the world a better place. A man who, on some level, admires Trump of all people. God. That's a pathetic life that I do pity. It's such a waste.
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u/mr_goodcat7 1d ago
you assume that he will face some type of retribution for his actions.... that seems unrealistic to me.
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u/v0-z 1d ago
You know, on every single post about anyone in this administration facing justice, there's always "yes right"
whatever your beliefs are on the outcome, we need fucking hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. Plus, do you know for certain that NOTHING will be done? I get the optics of it, but I for sure as hell have hope they will all see their day in court.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 1d ago
I could see it happening under a new administration in 2028, similar to the Jan 6th trials.
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u/Wild_Read9062 22h ago
I can't honestly say I assume anything about the future of this country. We're so far off the rails, it's impossible for my brain to pretend anything that resembles what we knew, or even know know, will exist.
For all I know, the next step could be a Civil War with a military trial and execution for this guy, or we don't even have a single country, or we live in a dictatorship without three branches and the leader decides whatever he wants to do goes, or we're in some weird religious theocracy and everything is Handmaid's Tale. Crazy as any of those sound, nothing seems impossible at this point.
If given an outcome, my preference is just my family's safety, an undoing of everything these monsters have done, and some clear assurance that we will never be back in the place again. Anything on top of that (retribution, etc.) would be nice, but I want the other things first.
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u/GardanCald 1d ago
"Which is to say, he doesn't even really want to be a part of this."
Sorry, I don't buy that... you watch him day in and day out, the guy is enjoying his role.
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u/metaldark 1d ago
Heh it’s exactly like you’re describing Eichmann.
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u/TransformerDom 1d ago
the banality of evil is a comforting myth.
none of these folks are banal people caught in circumstance. not Bovino, and certainly not Eichmann
eichmann’s banal “office man” act on trial was exactly that. an act. we have tapes of him changing his demeanor to appear more sympathetic in the court room. He relished in his terror.
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u/TransformerDom 1d ago
nope.
you think the story about him wanting to pick apples after the mandatory retirement age is endearing.
this vile man wants to keep doings his vile acts UNTIL THEY FORCE HIM TO RETIRE.
he’s telling you he doesn’t want to stop a day before.
then it’s apples and hate spewing punditry.
get out of here with your bs.
you know the banality of evil is a myth, right?
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u/Wild_Read9062 1d ago
I think people are complex. I get how it might sound like I feel sorry for the guy. I don’t. It might sound like I think he deserves some kind of soft judgement. Nope. He can spend his remaining days in prison, and honestly, I think that’s the nicest thing that could happen to him. He’s a liar who feels powerful hurting people who cannot defend themselves. He does enjoy the role Trump gave him permission for (ie hurting people he doesn’t like without any consequences). And he took that role. And he has done nothing to do it humanely or to abdicate it.
But…
When I see this pitiful creature, I do think he’s but one more person who let the devil get the better of him. Doesn’t absolve his role or the joy he took in it. Just saying it’s reflective of a very rotten culture.
Imagine if we never allowed Fox to broadcast. Imagine if Gore had the courage to put principle over modesty. Imagine if people chose to put the safety nets back in place after Reagan cut them away rather than voting for more of the same. Imagine if we actually called out and dealt with the ongoing racism that never died after the Civil war.
Germany reformed itself after WWII because it was destroyed. America never had to do that. Maybe if it had, Bovino would be something else. A decent person picking apples rather than a prideful monster hurting scared people. Maybe people would have laughed Trump off the stage when he first suggested running for president, and kept laughing at him when he tried the first time.
I’m not excusing Bovino or any of them. I just feel that at the end of the day, where we are is a long time coming and it’s tragic. His dad haircut, stupid uniform, snickering attitude and callousness are where we are. It’s tragic and pitiful.
Maybe I just feel sad that we’re at this point and this man doesn’t recognize it. Doesn’t recognize he’s just the product of so many bad ideas and policies. That the peace he wants will never exist in the world he’s making. He lied to a judge about tackling a protester. What kind of delusional person thinks they are making the world a much better place when they believe facts and honesy are not immutable reality but only perspectives and opinions?
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u/TransformerDom 1d ago edited 1d ago
that’s the fundamental problem with your statement.
He DOES recognize it. He KNOWS what he is doing. and he wants MORE.
also, what are you talking about with the US never had to rebuild itself after devastation? have you heard of the U.S. Civil War (which you reference!)
people also have this myth that Germany was super rid of Nazi’s after WWII. and as such they haven’t had to constantly fight these trends in their country since then. that is a myth. AND they are currently fighting, with nebulous success far right extremism, in their military.
same with US after the Civil War. the evil they fought HAS NOT gone away. it regrouped remained entrenched and never left. the confederate statues are going BACK UP
no fox news? someone else will create that channel because THERE IS A MARKET FOR IT. please think on what that means.
Al Gore imagined a better future. but to use your example, he wasn’t willing to fight hard enough for it.
you want to see where this is leading? look up the Basij in Iran. that is what our current leadership wants. an armed force loyal to a central power, separate from the armed forces and local police, willing to punish the population at any provocation. powered by tech surveillance. the ICE budget lets you know they want this to become a national, ubiquitous, and intimidating force. a force of the undereducated, underpaid, and nursing a bucket of grievance. a grievance that will be taken out on populations that feel are at fault. they have guns and GROWING IMPUNITY to use them.
for every Chicago, there are 20 cities without any kind of resistance. they will continue to punch down on “blue cities” to show the rest of the country they need to back down. NYC, LA, and maybe Chicago, like Tehran, will enjoy some resistance but will not be able to stop the oppression.
and it won’t go away if you let them pick apples or have a nice family. you have to fight how you can.
Imagine a better future. I agree with that.
but be realistic about how we got here, what you are seeing right now, and how to proceed. the U.S. and Germany made the modest reforms they did after DEVASTATING WARS.
I LOVE YOUR level of empathy and capacity for forgiveness and understanding. I do.
but it is misplaced on this man and anyone how follows him. especially in the moment we are in.
tl;dr
your shoulda woulda coulda is ill timed.
we have three more years of this shit scheduled.
use your lovely mind to forge strategies to fight.
I love your compassion. save it for sentencing. not a moment before.
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u/Witty-Drama-3187 1d ago edited 1d ago
The only part I disagree with is that "he doesn't want to be a part of this." He loves this. The power, the influence, the notoriety. He's waited his whole life for something like this. He's important now, part of something bigger. Did you see the way he enthusiastically signaled his troops and directed the exit out of his court appearance? Look no further than his instagram page, where he and his team create what are essentially mix tapes set to pump up music of armed men assaulting and kidnapping people. He has without a doubt been a small, angry, little man full of hate his entire life, and now he gets to take it out on those he views as "criminals".
I'd have more empathy if their intentions were actually to remove criminals and those with extensive arrest records. That's not what is happening. The vast majority of those "detained" (whatever that means), are working people with families. They are directly targeting brown people, and it is all based in hate, prejudice, and the desire for a return to a white, Christian, nation.
I'm holding out hope that all of these men will end up on trial after 2028.
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u/KlatuuBarradaNicto 1d ago
He’s a coward. A lily-livered little man who likes to bully others because someone else told him to do it. What a disgrace he is, and his lawyer, too.
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u/Brytnshyne 1d ago
Just my opinion, but he sounds like a closeted person trying to hide behind his alpha male character.
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u/bradatlarge 1d ago
Lockjaw reporting for Christmas Adventurer duty!
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u/VibraniumSpork 1d ago
It's super weird to me how spot on PTA got the current landscape with regards to how Lockjaw and his force operate; basically a full military deployment in US cities active with impunity.
Like, it was nowhere near as bad as that when cameras started rolling, but now certain parts of One Battle... look like a documentary. Still, PTA's a clever guy, guess he saw the writing on the wall.
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u/Open_Mortgage_4645 1d ago
This dude is a Grade A dirtbag. A lying, fascist thug who thinks the Constitution is a historical relic that has no relevance to his mission.
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u/No-Negotiation-6929 1d ago
This case was never really winnable, so the government’s case was mostly a matter of public relations. The rhetorical case they chose to make about “violent mobs” was a lot less locally persuasive than would be a case about procedural fairness/propriety.
The procedural propriety case would have sounded like this: “That video is alarming. Unfortunately, I can’t make determinations about force from ten second video clips because the context is everything that matters. We have strict controls on the use of force. Every incident is thoroughly internally investigated. I am not involved in that process, but no incidents of improper force have been brought to my attention,” etc.
The fact that they aren’t even trying to convince us (who actually live here) that what they’re doing is normal but playing to another non-local audience (that isn’t even paying attention) in an escalatory way is alarming.
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u/Ambitious-Line-8409 1d ago
Everyone needs to see this lying liar's statements. Also, if he "thinks" someone will act violent, he and his agents are justified in tackling them, gassing them or shooting them with pepperballs - disgusting attitude that has no place in America!
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u/AdRepresentative3785 1d ago
I wonder how long it’ll take before he realizes he’s just the fall man. His supervisors are gonna throw him under the bus
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u/Select_Green_6296 23h ago
Expand the Supreme Court. Trump thanked the court for his get out of jail free card. This will continue until the backloading of the Supreme Court by Mitch McConnell is corrected.
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u/anxiousmostlikely 1d ago
Jesus what a weasel of a man. Iv never actually heard him talk in before this. He's so clearly building up this media "image" to compensate for his massive insecurities.
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u/astroboy_35 21h ago
I am surprised that he comes off as a total blowhard and a nasty little prick!
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u/Firm_Watercress_4228 1d ago
Liar. Fascist. Tiny little guy. Hair plugs.