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By Andrew Stanton
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Right-wing militia leader Ammon Bundy condemned the shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal immigration officer in Minneapolis as "sickening."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson responded to his comments in a statement to Newsweek.
"This is very simple. No one needs to be arrested. Illegal aliens have a choice. They can avoid detention by using the CBP home app, receive a free flight home and $2,600. Comparisons of illegal alien detention centers to internment camps used during World War II are deranged and lazy. These smears against our brave ICE law enforcement are no doubt contributing to the more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them," the statement reads.
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Why It Matters
Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse, was fatally shot by federal immigration officers on January 24, just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renée Good, also in Minneapolis. The killings came amid protests over the Trump administration's ramping up of immigration enforcement in Minnesota.
The Pretti shooting, as well as other reports of tactics that allegedly include using a 5-year-old as bait, has drawn swift and bipartisan backlash to immigration operations. Many critics have called the shooting unjustified.
DHS said Pretti approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a handgun. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously told Newsweek that the department viewed it as a "situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
However, videos verified by various news outlets show that Pretti was holding a cellphone in his right hand, with nothing in his left hand, before he was shot, contradicting those claims. Prior to the shooting, federal agents had removed Pretti's handgun, which he had a license to carry, from its holster.
Bundy rose to prominence after leading the 2016 occupation of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which involved right-wing militias, and is well known for embracing anti-government political views. The standoff lasted for more than a month and was intended to protest federal land‑management policies. It ended with arrests and prosecutions of several participants.
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What To Know
Bundy discussed the Pretti shooting in an interview with The Atlantic, saying, "It's sickening to me, just to see the parallels of history repeating itself."
He added, "When it comes to the more humanitarian side of it, I think the left has it much more correct than the nationalist right."
His father, Cliven Bundy, engaged in a 2014 standoff with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees near his ranch in Nevada.
Since the 2016 occupation, the younger Bundy has been critical of the militia movement. New York magazine reported in 2018 that he broke with the movement over immigration issues and has been critical of Trump's immigration positions and nationalism.
"We have been asked by God to help, to be welcoming, to assist strangers, to not vex them," he told the publication at the time.
Bundy has still remained active in conservative politics, leading protests in 2020 over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also pursued electoral politics, mounting a 2022 campaign for governor of Idaho—initially in the Republican primary and later as an independent. He won just over 17 percent of the vote against GOP Governor Brad Little.
Bundy isn't the only militia leader who has raised concerns about ICE agents. A Virginia Kekoas militia leader has also denounced the administration's comments on Pretti as "shameful," documentarian Ford Fischer reported.
Alex Pretti Shooting: The Latest
The nation has continued to grapple with Pretti's killing.
The agents involved in the shooting have been placed on leave, and the Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into his death.
The agents involved have been identified as 43-year-old Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and 35-year-old Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, according to government records viewed by ProPublica.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump told reporters last week about the Alex Pretti investigation: "You can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns. You just can't. You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that. But it's just a very unfortunate incident."
Steve Schleicher, an attorney representing Alex Pretti's parents, previously said in a statement provided to Newsweek: "A week before Alex was gunned down in the street—despite posing no threat to anyone—he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex's killing at the hands of ICE on Jan 24."
Alex Pretti's parents previously said in a joint statement: "The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump's murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had 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."
What Happens Next
Pretti's death remains under investigation while the administration has faced growing backlash over the situation. Democrats in Congress have sought to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over the deaths of Pretti and Good.
Update 2/3/26 1:08 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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