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Trump White House rushes Demonizing Minneapolis Nurses The man who was fatally shot by federal agents over the weekend has put the administration at odds with Republican gun-rights diehards as officials try to justify the shooting by pointing to the victim’s decision to justify the shooting. Carry a concealed handgun as he observed immigration enforcement activities.
Border Patrol agents fired shots at the scene The back of 37-year-old Alex Pretti Saturday within five seconds of throwing him to the ground. Upon review, multiple videos of the incident independent Video shows an officer removing a holstered handgun from Pretty just before the first shot was fired.
The VA intensive care unit nurse had a concealed carry permit for the weapon and did not reach for or attempt to brandish it during the incident, but in the hours after the fatal shooting, Trump administration officials cited his decision to legally carry the handgun — a right guaranteed by Minnesota law and the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — as evidence that he was seeking violent confrontations with police.
White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller makes baseless accusations against Pretty on X website A “potential assassin” who “attempted to murder federal law enforcement officers,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Officer Greg Bovino both falsely claimed that Preti was brandishing a weapon or approaching officers with the intent to shoot them.
President Donald Trump himself doubled down, blaming his own death on Preeti’s decision to legally carry a handgun. Wall Street Journal: “I don’t like it when someone shows up to a protest with a very powerful, loaded gun and two magazines that are also loaded with bullets. “
The administration’s newfound disdain for Americans’ legal ability to carry weapons during protests is a stark shift from the stance taken by Trump and many of his top aides during his first term, when the president endorsed protesters, many of whom openly carried rifles, who stormed the Michigan Legislature and urged the state to end public health measures aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19.
Trump World also rallies Kyle Rittenhouse’s DefenseThe Illinois man became a right-wing folk hero after he shot and killed two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during racial justice protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
When Rittenhouse was acquitted of murder by a jury more than a year later, he was hailed as an example of the Second Amendment’s right for Americans to carry and use guns for self-defense.
At the time, Trump called him a “very good young man” who didn’t deserve to be prosecuted.
But after Border Patrol agents shot Pretty, government officials continued to say the agents were justified in doing so because he was legally armed, and Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, wrote on
In response, the National Rifle Association called his comments “dangerous and wrong.”
The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus also issued a statement stating that “every Minnesotan” has the “right to keep and bear arms — including when participating in a protest, serving as an observer, or exercising First Amendment rights.”
“These rights do not disappear when a person is lawfully armed and they must always be respected and protected,” it said.
The ultra-conservative Gun Owners of America – a group founded by activists who believe the generally pro-Republican NRA’s stance was too moderate – called for a “full, transparent and swift investigation” while rejecting the idea that agents were justified in shooting Pretty because she was armed.
“There is a ‘high likelihood’ that agents will lawfully ‘shoot’ an approaching concealed gunman who is legally carrying a firearm,” the group said.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who has occasionally opposed Trump, also weighed in after Essaly’s post, writing: “Carrying a gun is not a death sentence, it is a God-given right protected by the Constitution, and if you don’t understand that, you have no business being in law enforcement or government.”