Jan. 25, 2026Updated Jan. 26, 2026, 10:22 a.m. ET
Several prominent Second Amendment rights groups have blasted federal officials for suggesting it’s dangerous – and possibly an indication of mal intent – for lawful gun owners to protest while in possession of their legally obtained firearms.
The controversy came after a Border Patrol agent on Jan. 24 shot and killed Alex Pretti, a U.S. citizen and registered Veterans Affairs nurse, in Minneapolis. Federal officials said Pretti had a gun and intended to “kill law enforcement.” But videos and a witness account in federal court show Pretti holding a phone, not brandishing a firearm.
Hours after the fatal shooting, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Southern California took to X and said, “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!” Other members of the Trump administration argued that peaceful protesters don’t show up with guns.
Several prominent gun rights groups took issue with Essayli’s statement, including the National Rifle Association.
“This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong,” the NRA said on X. “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
Gun Owners for America said in a statement that its leaders “condemn the untoward comments” by Essayli.
“Federal agents are not ‘highly likely’ to be ‘legally justified’ in ‘shooting’ concealed carry licensees who approach while lawfully carrying a firearm,” the group said. “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting ‒ a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, also blasted Essayli’s comments, writing 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.”
Essayli, in a follow-up statement, accused critics of mischaracterizing his comments.
“I never said it’s legally justified to shoot law-abiding concealed carriers,” he said on X. “My comment addressed agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm.”
“My advice stands: If you value your life, do not aggressively approach law enforcement while armed,” he added. “If they reasonably perceive a threat and you fail to immediately disarm, they are legally permitted to use deadly force.”
Trump admin officials say no peaceful protesters show up with firearms
In the aftermath of the shooting, multiple Trump administration officials said peaceful protesters do not carry firearms with them.
“I don’t know of any peaceful protesters that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said at a news conference hours after the shooting. “This is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons.”
In an interview on ABC News’ “This Week,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to blame Pretti for the shooting, saying, “he brought a gun.” When host Jonathan Karl pushed back, bringing up the Second Amendment, Bessent said, “I’ve been to a protest. Guess what, I didn’t bring a gun, I brought a billboard.”
FBI director Kash Patel made similar comments in a Jan. 25 appearance on FOX News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines,” he said, adding, “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 that right to break the law.”
Patel and other Trump administration officials have previously defended Kyle Rittenhouse, who at the age of 17 brought an AR-15 style rifle to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020. Rittenhouse shot three men, killing two and injuring one, and was later acquitted on all related charges.
Family, Minneapolis police push back on feds’ description of shooting
Similar to the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by an immigration agent, Noem and other federal officials almost immediately called Pretti, who has no criminal history, a “domestic terrorist.”
“This individual, who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers, committed an act of domestic terrorism,” she said.
Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol commander-at-large, told CNN that his agency respects Americans’ Second Amendment rights, but also suggested that Pretti being armed at a protest indicated that he intended to commit violence.
“We respect that Second Amendment right, but those rights don’t count when you riot or assault, delay, obstruct, and impede law enforcement officers, and, most especially, when you mean to do that beforehand,” he said without providing evidence that Pretti acted violently toward agents.
Pretti’s family condemned the Trump administration’s descriptions of Pretti and the shooting, calling them “sickening lies” that are “reprehensible and disgusting.”
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he found federal authorities’ description of the shooting “deeply concerning.”
O’Hara said Pretti was “exercising his First Amendment rights to record law enforcement activity, and also exercising his Second Amendment rights to lawfully be armed in a public space in the city.”
(This story was updated to add new comments.)
Christopher Cann is a national breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact him via email at ccann@usatoday.com.
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