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A confrontation at a Minneapolis gas station involving a U.S. Border Patrol commander has reignited debate over whether private businesses should deny service to federal law enforcement officers based on opposition to immigration enforcement.
Video circulated online by FreedomNTV shows Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino being followed out of a Speedway convenience store by a man believed to be a store employee or manager. In the footage, the man tells Bovino, “We do not support ICE. Get off our property.”
'It’s shameful conduct to try to penalize men and women who are enforcing federal law.'
Bovino does not respond in the video and exits the store without engaging.
The incident, which occurred in late January, is the latest in a series of encounters in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and Department of Homeland Security officials have been turned away from private businesses, particularly in Minnesota, amid heightened anti-ICE activism.
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Similar refusals have been reported at hotels and retail locations, including a Hampton Inn-branded property in Lakeville, Minnesota, where ICE agents were denied accommodations and had reservations canceled. That episode drew national attention after Hilton removed the hotel from its brand. The General Services Administration likewise removed it from its federal lodging programs.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was also denied entry to a building in a Chicago suburb earlier this year while attempting to use a restroom, according to DHS officials.
The Speedway video has fueled renewed scrutiny over the line between private business discretion and refusals of service aimed at federal agents performing official duties.
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Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Zack Smith said that while private businesses generally control access to their property, singling out law enforcement officers because of their role raises serious ethical concerns.
“It’s shameful conduct to try to penalize men and women who are enforcing federal law,” Smith said. “Even if a business technically has the authority to refuse service, that doesn’t make it right.”
Smith added that similar incidents emerged during periods of unrest following 2020, when law enforcement officers increasingly became symbolic targets of political activism.
Following the Speedway incident, criticism of the convenience store chain spread rapidly online, with calls for consumer boycotts aimed at Speedway and its parent company, 7-Eleven.
7-Eleven and the DHS did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not announced whether further action will be taken.
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