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By Suzanne Blake
Reporter
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A Fox News host has pushed back on the Trump administration’s framing of the shooting of Alex Pretti by border patrol agents in Minneapolis this Saturday.
Trey Gowdy, who hosts the Fox News show Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy, criticized the Trump’s administration’s narrative of Pretti as a terrorist.
“We certainly should not be labeling him as a domestic terrorist who was going to execute cops. There is no evidence to support that,” he said Sunday.
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Why It Matters
Pretti, age 37, was killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday in Minneapolis.
The Department of Homeland Security said on social media that Pretti had approached the officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.
“The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted,” DHS wrote. “More details on the armed struggle are forthcoming. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots. Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
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What To Know
Gowdy pointed out the inconsistencies between how the Trump administration has often viewed gun rights when it came to other protests and the demonstrations around ICE patrol operations.
“The administration, you know, Bill, I think there is a temptation in our culture to be first, even at the expense of being right. You only have to watch this video a couple of times to know it is a very fact-intensive inquiry,” Gowdy told co-anchor Bill Hemmer.
“It could come down, it could come down, Bill, to which of those 10 shots was actually the fatal shot. And I think what frustrates people — you remember Kyle Rittenhouse and how he was made a hero on the right. 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.' Alex Pretti's firearm was lawfully being carried. It's lawful to carry a gun in Minnesota. He never brandished it. He didn't point it at the cops.”
Gowdy joined Fox News in 2019 and extensively covered the 2024 election and 2022 midterms. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives for South Carolina’s 4th Congressional District and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations on the Judiciary Committee.
Controversy around Pretti’s death stems from the differing viewpoints of the DHS and bystanders when Pretti was killed.
Trump’s officials have called Pretti a “domestic terrorist”, while bystander videos show Pretti with a phone in his hand and no visible weapon. Family members have confirmed that Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed firearm in Minnesota.
Earlier this month, also in Minneapolis, ICE agents fatally shot another civilian, Renee Good, and Pretti’s death has sparked debate around ICE operations as well as gun rights in America.
In the aftermath of Pretti’s death, he was identified as an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital.
“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” Michael Pretti, his father, told the Associated Press. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
What People Are Saying
Gowdy said on Fox News: “I think what frustrates people — you remember Kyle Rittenhouse and how he was made a hero on the right. 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.' Alex Pretti's firearm was lawfully being carried. It's lawful to carry a gun in Minnesota. He never brandished it. He didn't point it at the cops.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go—What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves—Not an easy thing to do!”
Gun Owners of America wrote on X: “We are saddened by the loss of life in Minneapolis, Minnesota earlier today during a federal law-enforcement operation. Because details remain limited and facts are still emerging, it is essential that @theJusticeDept conduct a complete, transparent, and prompt investigation so the public can fully understand what occurred and maintain confidence in the rule of law.”
What Happens Next
Minnesota officials filed a lawsuit and a temporary restraining order to stop Trump officials from "destroying or altering evidence" relating to the shooting of Pretti.
"As I told the White House in no uncertain terms this morning, the federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation,” Walz said Sunday.
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