Gil Kerlikowske: Border Patrol has no business being in cities like Minneapolis'

"Gil Kerlikowske joins the video call exactly one hour after agreeing to the interview. Behind him, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln hangs on the wall, the savior of the American Union that is said to be in such danger these days. Next to him, several police badges attest to a long career in law enforcement. One of them bears the insignia of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where he served as commissioner during Barack Obama's presidency."

"The world is actually watching what is going on, he says of the situation in Minneapolis. If it wasn't for those videos that came out, people would say, Well, this is what the president said, this is what Secretary Noem or the vice president said.' But now that people have looked at those videos, they've made their own judgment, and they say, You know what, what we're being told by these officials is not what happened."

Gil Kerlikowske joined a video call one hour after agreeing to the meeting. A portrait of Abraham Lincoln and multiple police badges behind him signal a long law enforcement career, including service as CBP commissioner under Barack Obama. Two recent killings in Minneapolis of U.S. citizens by federal agents occurred just over two weeks apart and triggered extensive media attention. Kerlikowske identifies the situation in Minneapolis as chaotic and criticizes the deployment of immigration agents amid mass protests and severe police repression. Publicly released videos have enabled independent judgments that contradict official accounts. Kerlikowske is a Northeastern University criminology professor with over 40 years in law enforcement.

Read at english.elpais.com