HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — Greg Bovino, the chief of U.S. Border Patrol’s Minneapolis team, argued with Republican and Democratic lawmakers over the weekend about his unit’s killing of a resident.

In replies to social media posts, Bovino picked fights with lawmakers who have expressed concern over Border Patrol’s Saturday shooting of Alex Pretti.

Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie suggested in an X post on Sunday that Pretti, who was confronting immigration agents in Minneapolis, shouldn’t have been killed for having a gun. Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have said that an agent shot Pretti after he violently resisted officers’ attempts to disarm him of a semi-automatic handgun.

“Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government,” Massie wrote.

Bovino replied that “attacking law enforcement is not a right like you want it to be.”

Less than two hours earlier, he found fault with a Republican senator’s call for an investigation into Pretti’s death. Louisiana’s Bill Cassidy said in a post that there needs to be a joint federal and state investigation into the killing, noting that the public can be trusted with the information.

“The same state that refuses to work with ICE is now going to ‘investigate’?” Bovino replied. “How about investigating a certain mayor who told cops to fight ICE in the streets. You don't seem concerned about that - how come, senator?”

Bovino was likely referring to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who has encouraged residents to peacefully protest the Trump administration.

Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, has also supported Minnesotans' right to protest. He said in a Saturday X post that the status quo for immigration enforcement is “lawless” and gave ideas to reform it. Bovino replied that his suggestions didn’t include “anything about getting violent illegal aliens off the street though.”

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul, chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, called on the heads of Customs and Border Patrol, ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to testify at a hearing after Pretti's death.

Congress has a responsibility to make sure the “exceptional” amount of funding that Homeland Security agencies receive is used to “accomplish the mission, provide proper support for our law enforcement, and, most importantly, protect the American people,” Paul said in letters to the officials.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has supported her agencies’ response to aggressive protesters, whom she has characterized as violent rioters.

Have questions, concerns or tips? Send them to Ray at rjlewis@sbgtv.com.