The killing of a Minnesota man who was protesting a Border Patrol immigration enforcement action while carrying a concealed firearm has quickly become a political Rorschach test, particularly on the right, while some voices on the left are suddenly displaying feigned appreciation and support for the Second Amendment.
37-year-old Alex Pretti, who worked as an ICU nurse at a Veteran’s Administration hospital in the Twin Cities, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents during a chaotic scene in which it appears a gun was discovered in a holster as Pretti was on the ground surrounded by agents. Video of the chaos appears to show an agent in a grey pullover take the gun from Pretti’s holster, while shouts of “gun, gun” are heard. Seconds later an agent opens fire at close range, with another agent quickly discharging his own weapon.
Officials including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino quickly announced that Pretti was targeting law enforcement, with Bovino declaring that the suspect “had two loaded magazines and no accessible ID.,” adding that it “looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Noem also asserted that the incident “looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and kill law enforcement,” though video shows that Pretti never touched his firearm before he was killed.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, drew widespread condemnation from gun owners (including myself), for a post on X several hours after the shooting took place where he asserted that “if you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.
Don’t do it! https://t.co/DNpyew6PMh
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) January 24, 2026
Those remarks were criticized by several Second Amendment organizations, including Gun Owners of America, Second Amendment Foundation, MN Gun Owners Caucus, and the National Rifle Association, with most groups calling for an investigation into Pretti’s death. Several of the groups also criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for inciting residents to, as the NRA put it, “dangerously interject oneself into legitimate law-enforcement activities have ended in violence, tragically resulting in injuries and fatalities.”
Reactions on the right have ranged from “FAFO” to describing the shooting as “lawful but awful” to a belief that the shooting was unjustified. There’s also been widespread speculation that Pretti’s gun (a Sig 320) may have unintentionally or negligently discharged after it was removed by the Border Patrol agent, which led other officers to believe that they were being shot at.
Some on the right have also adopted the language of gun control activists, claiming Pretti’s pistol was “military style” and noting that he was believed to be carrying between 30 and 51 rounds.
“Military-style…”
This is literally the left-wing “weapon of war” trope repackaged by the right.
I know everyone wants to win the argument over *insert current thing,* but this is so short-sighted. https://t.co/kSOSjatn2U
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 25, 2026
Moral of the story is don’t fight with law enforcement officers, especially if you have a weapon like a gun or a car. Why did this guy, Pretti, have multiple fully loaded magazines with him. https://t.co/kJ8JnNqJtb
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) January 25, 2026
I was surprised to see Lott’s question, given that it’s hardly unusual for those who lawfully carry to have a backup magazine with them. Lott also stated in a couple of replies that Pretti pointed his gun at officers, which doesn’t appear to be the case based on available video.
No one was implying that by itself that is a problem. But if you are pointing your gun around & law enforcement try to disarm you, you obey their orders. If he carried it concealed, the officers wouldn’t have had a clue he was carrying. The guy was not carrying ID with him. Why?…
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) January 25, 2026
Many folks also pointed out that, according to officials, Pretti did not have is driver’s license or concealed carry permit on him, which is a violation of Minnesota’s carry laws. As the MN Gun Owners Caucus pointed out, though, the punishment for that “crime” is a $25 fine, which is waived if the gun owner later produces evidence of an active permit.
Was it a bad idea for Pretti to actively engage law enforcement while he was carrying? Yes, though from the video I’ve seen the only contact he made with a Border Patrol agent was a momentary hand on the agent’s shoulder after the agent had pushed another protester to the ground. Pretti was then maced and taken to the ground by multiple agents, and was shot seconds later.
Whether or not the shooting will be deemed justified depends on the totality of the circumstance and whether or not the agents who fired their weapons had reasonable cause to believe their lives and the lives of others were in danger. I’m personally leaning towards the “awful but lawful” scenario given that Pretti’s gun appears to have discharged while it was in the hand of the agent who confiscated it and the shouts of “gun, gun”, though it also appears that one agent fired several more times from about 15 feet away while Pretti was motionless on the pavement.
I also think it was a huge mistake on the part of DHS to immediately label Pretti a domestic terrorist apparently intent on massacring law enforcement on the scene. No evidence has emerged that would point towards that conclusion, and as Red State’s Bonchie pointed out, those statements undercut the argument that the shooting was justified given the chaotic scene.
Yes, public opinions matters because when you lose elections, you lose the power and possibly funding to do any enforcement at all.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 24, 2026
Gun control advocates, meanwhile, were quick to describe Pretti as a “lawful gun owner” who was merely exercising his First and Second Amendment rights, even when they’ve previously declared that there is no right to carry at a protest or argued that guns that use detachable magazines are “dangerous and unusual.”
Is your organization finally reversing its long-held belief that people at a protest do not have Second Amendment rights? https://t.co/eRhWv6ldhl pic.twitter.com/g0z0RkW545
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) January 25, 2026
You argued in court that the gun he was carrying is “a threat to society” and “designed to kill large numbers of people quickly”: https://t.co/bGJXMeIxrc https://t.co/cxaadwFzOw
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) January 25, 2026
It’s also worth noting that a picture purportedly showing a Truth Social post by President Donald Trump declaring that only criminals carry guns on the street appears to be fake, with no such post appearing on the President’s Truth Social feed. As I said, the confirmed videos at the scene are already serving as a political Rorschach test, and the last thing we need right now is a heaping dose of fake news designed to inflame tensions even further.
Editor’s Note: The radical left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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