As The New York Times explains, the U.S. Attorney in Minnesota, Daniel N. Rosen, is an Orthodox Jew. That means he observes Shabbat, a day of rest from Friday to Saturday evenings.
Apparently, Donald Trump's Nazi-cosplaying Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino finds that offensive and cause for ridicule. Before Bovino’s crew murdered American nurse Alex Pretti, on January 24, and before Bovino told outrageous lies trying to justify it, he sneered and jeered at Rosen for his religious practice.
According to The Times, Bovino’s anti-Semitic comments took place during a phone call on January 12, which was a Monday. “According to several people with knowledge of the telephone conversation … [Bovino] used the term ‘chosen people’ in a mocking way, according to the people with knowledge of the call. He also asked, sarcastically, whether Mr. Rosen understood that Orthodox Jewish criminals don’t take weekends off, the people said.”
It’s not as though Rosen blew off the meeting altogether. He delegated the call to a deputy, The Times reported. Maybe Rosen was busy with other important work. Or maybe he didn’t want to talk to Bovino just five days after Trump’s ICE agents murdered Minnesotan Renee Good. Bovino wanted to speak with Rosen “to press the Minnesota office to work more aggressively to seek criminal charges against people Mr. Bovino believed were unlawfully impeding the work of his immigration agents,” The Times said.
So, apparently Bovino felt dissed and thus justified to smear Rosen’s faith.
But Bovino’s anti-Semitism could come back to haunt the Trump administration. A Supreme Court case requires prosecutors “to disclose certain information to the defense that could call into question the integrity and character of a law enforcement officer who is involved in an arrest and called as a witness in a trial,” The Times noted.
After the Pretti murder, Bovino was ousted from Minnesota and reportedly demoted. But he was replaced by Tom Homan, the guy caught on video taking a $50,000 bribe. Homan may not be an anti-Semite but he clearly has the same fascist mindset as his predecessor.
