4:23Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks by a screen showing an image of a handgun that the Department of Homeland Security says was recovered from a man who was shot during his arrest in Minneapolis, in Washington, January 24, 2026.Nathan Howard/Reuters
The fatal Minneapolis shooting of Alex Pretti involving federal agents and the instant portrayal of him as an armed individual engaged in “domestic terrorism" by some top Trump officials has sparked a Second Amendment backlash against the administration.
Multiple gun rights groups have criticized Homeland Security Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel for publicly condemning Pretti over bringing a gun to a protest despite Minnesota officials confirming he had a license to carry a concealed weapon.
"I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign," Noem said of Pretti during a news conference just hours after he was fatally shot by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.
An undated handout image of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by U.S. immigration agents as they tried to detain him in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 25, 2026.Department Of Veterans Affairs via Reuters
In an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," Patel echoed Noem's statement, saying, "As Kristi said, you cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple."
Several gun rights groups were quick to refute the statements of Patel and Noem, including the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, which said in a social media post that Patel was "completely incorrect."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks by a screen showing an image of a handgun that the Department of Homeland Security says was recovered from a man who was shot during his arrest in Minneapolis, in Washington, January 24, 2026.Nathan Howard/Reuters
"There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota," the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement.
The National Association for Gun Rights also responded to Patel's statement, issuing a social media post, saying, "Carrying an extra magazine implies nothing."
"Claiming otherwise sets a dangerous precedent for Second Amendment rights and creates an easy backdoor argument for magazine bans and similar legislation," the group said.
The National Rifle Association also issued a statement responding to a social media post by Bill Essayli, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, who wrote, "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!"
Protesters chant and bang on trash cans as they stand behind a makeshift barricade during a protest in response to the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer earlier in the day, Jan. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis.Adam Gray/AP
The Gun Owners of America also condemned Essayli's comment. In a social media post, the organization wrote, "Federal agents are not 'highly likely' to be 'legally justified' in 'shooting' concealed carry licensees who approach while lawfully carrying a firearm. The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms while protesting — a right the federal government must not infringe upon."
Essayli responded to the criticism, saying in a social media post directed at the Gun Owners of America, "I never said it's legally justified to shoot law-abiding concealed carriers. My comment addressed agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm."
The blowback came on top of bipartisan criticism of Trump administration officials for making a rush to judgment about Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Administration hospital nurse, issuing statements that appeared to be contradicted by multiple bystander videos of the shooting.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller took to social media on Saturday, writing, "A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and official Democrat accounts sides with the terrorists."
Alex Pretti is confronted by federal agents prior to being fatally shot in Minneapolis, Jan. 24, 2026.Obtained by ABC News
During her news conference on Saturday, Noem said Pretti had been "brandishing" a gun and possessed multiple magazines with the intent to inflict harm on officers. Greg Bovino, the CBP commander at large, said in a separate news conference on Saturday that "this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
Video reviewed and verified by ABC News does not appear to show that Pretti drew his gun on the agents and instead was holding up a cellphone, not a gun, to record the agents during the incident.
A screengrab from a video obtained by Reuters shows a law enforcement officer spraying irritants at Alex Pretti, before he was fatally shot when federal agents were trying to detain him in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 24, 2026.Video Obtained By Reuters
"Hearing disgusting lies spread about my brother is absolutely gut-wrenching," Pretti's sister, Micayla Pretti, said in a statement she released on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to try to distance themselves from the provocative statements made by top administration officials.
During a White House press briefing on Monday, Leavitt said, "Look, as I've said, I have not heard the president characterize Mr. Pretti in that way. However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts in the investigation lead itself."
On Saturday, Trump posted a photo of the handgun agents found on Pretti, writing in part, "This is the gunman's gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go…"
Speaking to reporters at the White House before heading to an event in Iowa on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he believed Pretti's death was justified.
"Well, you know we're doing a big investigation. I want to see the investigation. I'm going to be watching over it. I want a very honorable and honest investigation. I have to see it myself," Trump said.
The moment that the firearm of Alex Pretti is retrieved from a waistband holster by a federal officer (in light grey jacket, crouched) as another officer (in green) draws his weapon, before Pretti was fatally shot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, January 24, 2026.Video Obtained By Reuters
Later on Tuesday in Iowa, Trump was asked by ABC News' Rachel Scott if he agreed with the assessment by some top members of his administration that Pretti was "domestic terrorist" or an "assassin."
"Well, I haven't heard that," Trump said. "But certainly he shouldn't have been carrying a gun. Hey look, bottomline, everybody in this room would view that as a very unfortunate incident, OK, everyone, unless you are a stupid person."
Trump added, "I don't like that he had a gun. I don't like that he had two fully loaded magazines. That's a lot of bad stuff. And despite that, I say that's a very unfortunate incident."
The shooting is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, Leavitt told reporters on Monday. CBP is also conducting its own internal review, she said.
'You remember Kyle Rittenhouse'
The reaction by the Trump administration officials to the fatal shooting — the second in Minneapolis this month by federal agents conducting "Operation Metro Surge" — also appears to conflict with how the administration has reacted to other instances of people bringing guns to protests.
Some Republicans have even called out the double standard.
"You remember Kyle Rittenhouse and how he was made a hero on the right?" former Rep. Trey Gowdy, a Republican from South Carolina, said during a Fox News interview on Monday. "I'm sure there are people on the conservative side who are saying, 'Wait a minute, you mean you can't take a firearm to a protest? Because you were just celebrating a guy for doing it a couple of years ago.' "
Following a police officer-involved shooting of a 29-year-old Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020, Rittenhouse, who was then 17, answered an online call for armed "patriots" to come to Kenosha to protect lives and property after protests broke out. Armed with an AR-15-style rifle, Rittenhouse shot three protesters, two fatally, when he came under attack in the street.
Kyle Rittenhouse looks back as attorneys argue about the charges that will be presented to the jury during proceedings at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., in this Nov. 12, 2021, file photo. Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges.Sean Krajacic/AP
Rittenhouse claimed he shot the men in self-defense, and a jury acquitted him in 2021 of homicide charges. Trump, who was in between presidential terms at the time, invited Rittenhouse to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
"He should not have had to suffer through a trial for that. He's a really good, young man," Trump said in a subsequent Fox News interview.
On Jan. 6, 2021, multiple Trump supporters were charged with possessing firearms and other dangerous weapons during the attack on the U.S. Capitol. At the start of his second term in office in 2025, Trump issued blanket unconditional pardons to all of them, saying many were serving sentences he found "ridiculous and excessive."
In April 2020, several armed men entered the Michigan State Capitol building to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID stay-at-home order. In response to the protest, Trump issued a social media post, writing in all caps, "LIBERATE MICHIGAN." In a White House press briefing, Trump said, "They seem to be very responsible people to me."
'It does not appear that Alex Pretti broke any laws.'
James Sample, a professor at Hofstra University School of Law, said that as a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry a concealed weapon, Pretti appeared to do nothing wrong when he was shot to death.
"With respect to carrying a gun that he was permitted to carry, it does not appear that Alex Pretti broke any laws," Sample told ABC News.
People pay their respects during a candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti after he was shot and killed earlier in the day, January 24, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Based on available videos of the shooting, Sample said, "Everything that he did and everything that we have seen is consistent with his Second Amendment rights while exercising his First Amendment rights."
As a legal gun owner permitted to carry a concealed weapon, Pretti would have had to pass a background and criminal history check, Sample noted.
Sample said that while it is a "good practice," Pretti had no obligation to let federal agents know he had a gun on him before he was tackled to the ground and shot.
"There's no doubt that Second Amendment gun rights advocates have long felt that the Second Amendment gets second-class treatment relative to other rights. That's one argument," Sample said. "Gun control advocates, on the other hand, have said that they believe the Second Amendment is protected at the cost of safety. Here we have a hybrid in which those two scenarios are jumbled and juxtaposed."
Sourse: abcnews.go.com