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This is from The New York Times article.

“Operating in riverine environment, on horseback, is a difficult situation,” he said, adding that agents used reins to try to control horses so that they did not inadvertently injure migrants. He said the actions of one agent on horseback, who appeared to be spinning his reins like a lasso as he loomed over a group in the water, were most likely related to that challenge.

“But we will certainly look into the matter,” Chief Ortiz added, “to make sure that we do not have any activity that could be construed as a response to a law enforcement effort that is unacceptable.”

'A response to' seems to connote an action "of migrants" in response to an unacceptable law enforcement effort but Ortiz is meaning they will make sure that they don't have any "their" activity that could be regarded as unacceptable.

So I think 'a response to' is inappropriate in this context.

Am I wrong?

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    Sorry I'm not sure I understand your objection to this - I think it's inappropriate politically but not ungrammatical, just ugly stylistically.
    – L. B.
    Commented May 3, 2022 at 19:31
  • @L.B. Thank you very much.
    – user153498
    Commented May 5, 2022 at 0:29

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I agree.

I think Chief Ortiz is equivocating, trying to distance the "law enforcement effort" from any questionable actions of the officer by characterizing those actions as a response rather than as part of that effort.

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