A Department of Homeland Security promo video featuring Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino in a stylish black trench coat has ignited Nazi comparisons, including from Gavin Newsom.
The high-octane clip was posted the day that Bovino, 55, was ordered to attend daily court check-ins by U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis.
It splices footage of the commander outside the Chicago federal courthouse with a stylized black-and-white still of him in a calf-length coat, star collar pins, and slicked crewcut hair.
Set to a European gabber-style version of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” featuring the on-screen text overlay “WE WILL NOT BE STOPPED,” the post read, “We REFUSE to back down from our mission to make America safe.”
It added, “[Bovino] is putting his life on the line to protect our citizens, and no amount of radical terror or anarchy will stop us in our mission.”
Viewers immediately likened Bovino’s look to an SS-era uniform, sharing side-by-side images of Adolf Hitler and his officers, with one quipping, “Nice SS vibe.”
California Gov. Newsom, 57, reposted the video on X and wrote, “If you think the calls of fascism and authoritarianism are hyperbole pause and watch this video. They aren’t even trying to hide who they are.”
As the Department of Homeland Security clip spread, other users piled on. “He looks straight out of the SS,” one wrote. “Cosplaying hack who obviously thinks he’s a member of Hitler’s SS… and isn’t far off,” said another, adding that Bovino would “be on trial with the rest of them when all is said and done.” Another post mocked “Munchkin Himmler,” while a fourth said the monochrome shot was “giving Schindler’s List” vibes.
The photo of Bovino—hands clasped beneath the lapels of a double-breasted coat—also became a meme with captions like, “If not Nazi, why shaped like Nazi?”
The DHS chose to post the video after a judge in Chicago, Sara Ellis, ordered Bovino to appear in her courtroom at 6 p.m. every weekday to explain Border Patrol activity in the city after a spate of aggressive federal tactics around protests, including chemical rounds and pepper balls.
Ellis, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, also demanded use-of-force files and body-camera video by Friday, and reminded the agency that “kids dressed in Halloween costumes… do not pose an immediate threat,” referencing an Old Irving Park parade where officers deployed riot-control munitions near families on Saturday.
A day later, an appeals court paused the daily-briefing requirement while it reviews the case, after government lawyers argued the Trump administration would suffer “irreparable harm” if it stood.
The scrutiny surrounding the video adds to the pressure on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 53, and the Trump administration’s tactics as it struggles to meet the president’s aggressive deportation goals.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, 60, on Wednesday urged DHS to stop scaring children this Halloween weekend after Saturday’s parade fracas. In the same Chicago case, Ellis reiterated limits on less-lethal weapons and identification rules for federal officers, noting video of agents blanketing residential streets with chemical irritants.
Bovino, as Border Patrol’s on-the-ground leader, has led high-visibility sweeps in multiple cities, and appears to revel in his reputation as a no-nonsense enforcer, having been filmed throwing tear gas at protesters in a potential breach of a court order.
Despite regularly responding on X to people who are both positive and hostile toward him, Bovino has not publicly addressed the uniform criticism.
DHS was asked by the Daily Beast who had produced the video, why the stylized portrait was released amid an ongoing court order, and whether it had deliberately leaned into Nazi imagery.
A spokesperson said, “He is wearing his Border Patrol uniform.” Asked if the uniform had been designed to resemble an SS-style jacket, DHS did not respond by the time of publication.
The agency relies heavily on dramatic visuals in promoting its enforcement blitz online but has repeatedly come under the microscope for its regular nods to white nationalism.
Just this week, the department’s official X account engaged with an American Nazi-sympathizing influencer known as “Hermes,” who has a track record of posting openly racist, antisemitic, and homophobic online content.
That followed other DHS posts echoing far-right rhetoric such as “Which way, American man?” and “Remigrate.”
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