In the seconds before Alex Jeffrey Pretti was allegedly shot in the back and killed by members of the Customs and Border Patrol, one of the agents removed a handgun from Pretti’s person, according to an analysis of video by KARE, a Minneapolis TV station. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at the local VA had been demonstrating in the Whittier neighborhood.

The video shows Pretti never reached for his gun in the seconds between his attempt  to assist a woman who had been pepper sprayed and when he was accosted by seven border patrol agents. The firearm was taken in the scuffle. Afterward, one of the officers shot Pretti in the back. The agent and another officer then fired repeatedly. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Pretti was believed to be “a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” in compliance with Minnesota’s conceal and carry law. 

In an interview with the Associated Press, members of Pretti’s family confirmed he owned a pistol, and wasn’t known to use it.

"If he had a permit to carry, it's not unlawful to be carrying while you're exercising your 1st Amendment right," said Rob Doar of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center in an interview with Fox 9 Minneapolis-St.Paul. "You don't have to pick between which rights you exercise."

But Pretti’s right to conceal and carry a firearm was at the center of comments made by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commander  Gregory Bovino, who said the demonstrator was there to “massacre law enforcement.”

Kristi Noem, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, pointed to the gun as evidence that it "looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement." 

A U.S. attorney from Los Angeles, Bill Essayli, generalized that message on X. “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you,” Essayli wrote. 

That comment elicited an immediate rebuke from the Gun Owners of America on X. 

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.

The National Rifle Association, which initially blamed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for “inciting violence,” also came down on Essaylii. 

This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.

Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.

Pretti’s gun, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported, was a Sig Sauer 9 mm pistol manufactured in New Hampshire “that is widely popular and frequently carried by U.S. military and law enforcement.” An image of the gun and an ejected magazine was released by the Department of Homeland Security and analyzed by an expert interviewed by reporter Bill Lukitsch. 

In an interview with the Associated Press, Michael Pretti, Alex’s father, said his son had no criminal history. Family members told the AP that they knew Alex had a gun but had not known him to use it. 

“The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” the Pretti family said in a statement. “Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed."

Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, according to the AP. His family described Alex as a Boy Scout who sang in a local choir. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2011 and worked as a research scientist before he became a registered nurse. 

Pretti participated in the George Floyd protests, his ex-wife told AP. She had never known him to be confrontational with law enforcement. He obtained a permit to carry a gun three years ago, she said.

A gathering of official responses to the Pretti shooting: