In the hours after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, President Donald Trump and his administration appeared to directly undermine the rights granted to gun owners in the Second Amendment.
Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem inaccurately said Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” who was “brandishing” his legally held gun. (Video footage has since shown that Pretti did not draw his gun at any point during his fatal interaction with federal agents.) FBI director Kash Patel wrongly told Fox News it’s illegal to bring a gun to a protest. Bill Essayli, a US attorney in California, wrote on X: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
On Tuesday, Trump doubled down, saying Pretti “certainly shouldn't have been carrying a gun.” “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,” he continued.
The comments led to backlash from gun rights’ groups, with the Minnesota's Gun Owners Caucus writing on X Sunday: “There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota.” Gun Owners of America also posted on X stating “peaceful protests while armed isn’t radical—it’s American,” alongside a clip of Trump telling reporters at the White House “you can’t walk in with guns.” The National Rifle Association avoided specifically mentioning Trump but stated “all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be.”
But a WIRED review of gun enthusiast forums and Facebook groups for private militias and extremists reveals that the vast majority of Second Amendment supporters in these online meeting spaces are willing to look past the president’s remarks, and lay the blame on Pretti himself.
Analysis of multiple videos of the incident by news organizations including the New York Times and Bellingcat, shows that Pretti, while holding a smartphone, attempted to help a woman who was being pepper-sprayed by a federal agent. At that point at least half a dozen fellow agents jumped on Pretti, shoving him to the ground. One is clearly seen removing Pretti’s gun from his waist, before another fires the first shot and then Pretti is killed.
The narrative gun enthusiasts are spinning online, however, tells a different story.
“Riot, interfering with police action against that woman, pushing a cop,” a user with the screen name gotigers wrote on the pro-gun forum ar15.com, which bills itself as “the world's largest firearm community.” “All crimes, all while armed. Pretti did this to himself.”
In response to an Ammoland article about Patel’s statement, a commenter with the screenname Yaza wrote: “LEGAL, yes. SMART, NO. Anybody carrying should be smart enough to know that where and when you carry makes a difference. In front of a bunch of ICE agents who are carrying bigger weapons that I have? Not the smartest thing to do.”
Some firearms advocates also excused the president’s comment in Iowa, claiming the clip failed to show the necessary context.
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