When Trump’s cronies said, “Who brings a gun to a protest without using it?” — CRACK!
Pretti was licensed to carry a gun in public when he was fatally shot by an immigration agent.By Paul WalshThe Minnesota Star TribuneJanuary 25, 2026Gun rights advocates in Minnesota and the nation are pushing back on the contention from Trump administration officials that federal agents killing Alex Pretti on Saturday, Jan. 24, was justified because, among other factors, he had a gun and ammunition with him.Border Patrol Cmndr. Greg Bovino told CNN one day after the shooting, “We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don’t count when you riot and assault, delay, obstruct and impede law enforcement officers and, most especially, when you mean to do that beforehand.”Disagreeing was Rob Doar, senior vice president of the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus and a gun rights advocate. Doar said he has seen at least four videos taken by bystanders of Pretti’s death during an immigration enforcement action on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. He gave the Minnesota Star Tribune a moment-by-moment account of what he saw, contradicting Bovino’s assessment.
Then another Trump stooge said this:
Doar’s organization learned of FBI Director Kash Patel’s comment on Jan. 25 on Fox News that “you cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have a right to break the law.”Doar’s group countered on X, formerly Twitter: “That is completely incorrect. There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota.”
That cracking sound? That’s the split developing inside Trump’s loyal, gun-loving base. And the administration didn’t back off — they doubled down.
A number of pro-gun rights Republicans pushed back on the administration's argument that Alex Pretti was dangerous because he had a gun. Pretti was legally licensed to carry one.NBC NewsBy Jonathan AllenJanuary 25, 2026A war of words over deeply held beliefs erupted on the political right in the hours after a federal agent shot and killed Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street Saturday, pitting top officials in President Donald Trump’s administration against Second Amendment defenders in his electoral base.At the core of the debate is that Pretti — who was permitted to carry a gun in public in Minnesota — had a concealed firearm on his person that eyewitness videos show federal agents apparently discovering and removing during the altercation that led to his death. Videos do not appear to show Pretti holding the weapon during that confrontation.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sought to justify the killing by asserting at a news conference that Pretti “attacked those officers, had a weapon on him, and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers coming, brandishing like that and impeding their work that they were doing.” No evidence has been provided to back up this account.Noem argued that his possession of a firearm demonstrated that he did not intend to remain peaceful.“I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Noem said on Saturday.
Boy was that the wrong track to take with the gun loving Republicans!
Republican calls are growing for a deeper investigation into the fatal Minneapolis shooting, do you remember in 2000 when Charlton Heston said that you are only taking my rifle "From my cold, dead hands.” Well Trump & Company want to do just that... take the guns form the from the cold, dead hands of the protesters.
AP NewsBy STEVEN SLOANJanuary 25, 2026A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign that the Trump administration’s accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying “my top priority remains keeping Americans safe.”A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors, reflected a party struggling with how to respond to Saturday’s fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a VA hospital.
But Trump cronies doubled down,
Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller issued social media posts referencing an “assassin” and “domestic terrorist” while Noem said Pretti showed up to “impede a law enforcement operation.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune went on to say,
Also weighing in on comments after Pretti’s killing was the National Rifle Association (NRA), for decades a powerhouse advocate for the near limitless constitutional right to bear arms.The NRA spoke up after an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, posted on X:“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!”The NRA called Essayli’s comment “dangerous and wrong. ... Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
AOL wrote,
Reaction from gun rights advocates: Those assertions from administration officials drew rebukes from gun rights advocates who typically find common cause with the GOP. "The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon," the Gun Owners of America posted on X. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican who respresents Kentucky's 4th congressional district, wrote on X, "Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it's a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don't understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government."
And remember: in the cold northern woods of Minnesota, trees don’t crack from the cold — they explode.
Kristi Noem and her underlings want the public not to believe their eyes. Keep those cell phone cameras going. It did not take long to expand the attack upon the First and Fourth Amendments to the Second Amendment. Noem has turned hoards of ill-trained, if you can even call it training, into a urban landscape. IMHO, ICE has hired to people who could not pass the requirements of any local police and state police agency. In my area all the agencies are offering signing bonuses up to $50K and starting salaries of $100K+ and still cannot attract qualified candidates. It seems ICE will take you, if you fog up a mirror.
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