The NRA is now criticizing the Trump administration. You read that right.
After Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti—a 37-year-old ICU nurse and lawful gun owner—in Minneapolis on Saturday, a top federal prosecutor posted what might be the most anti-Second Amendment statement to ever come from a Trump official.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted: “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!”
If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.
— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) January 24, 2026
Don’t do it! https://t.co/DNpyew6PMh
The NRA—the NRA!—called that statement “dangerous and wrong,” urging officials to stop “demonizing law-abiding citizens.”
WHAT’S GOING ON: Pretti was a licensed concealed carry permit holder in Minnesota. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara confirmed Pretti was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”
Video of the incident shows Pretti approaching ICE agents with his phone in hand—not a gun—apparently to record their actions. ICE agents tackled him, removed the concealed weapon from his person, then shot him nine times “in self-defense,” according to DHS.
The Gun Owners of America condemned Essayli’s comments, stating: “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.”
This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.
— NRA (@NRA) January 25, 2026
Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens. https://t.co/9fMz3CL29o
BUT BUT BUT: Essayli claims he was mischaracterized, insisting he meant “agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm.” Except the video doesn’t show Pretti brandishing anything. DHS claimed Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement”—a claim contradicted by literally everything we know about this ICU nurse who cared for veterans. His neighbor of five years said he was a “gentle, good person” who “would never, ever attack a police officer.”
OF COURSE: The NRA couldn’t resist blaming “radical progressive politicians like Tim Walz” for “inciting violence.” Because even when they stumble into defending a gun owner killed by federal agents, they have to make it the left’s fault.
BOTTOM LINE: The Trump administration just established that carrying a legal firearm near federal agents is grounds for execution—and even the gun lobby noticed.
“The claim that the peaceable carry of a firearm near officers is enough to justify them using lethal force is an affront to the Second Amendment rights of all Americans,” said the Second Amendment Foundation. When the NRA and progressives agree the government went too far, pay attention.