Some conservatives veer off party line after DHS agents kill another US citizen

It didn’t take long for the Trump administration to blame 37-year-old Alex Pretti for his own death after a federal immigration agent shot and killed him on Saturday in Minneapolis. 

Pretti, an intensive-care unit nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital, is the second US citizen to be killed by federal immigration agents in less than a month. Videos of the Saturday shooting, which have been analyzed by various outlets including Mother Jones, dispute the federal description.

The president referred to Pretti as a “gunman” and wrote “LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB!” on Truth Social.

The Trump administration has claimed that Pretti was an armed agitator who wanted to cause mass harm. While video analysis appears to show an immigration agent removing a gun from the pile of men, it is never seen in Pretti’s hand. A witness on the scene has also testified that she saw no sign of Pretti holding a gun at any point. And, according to officials, Pretti held a firearms permit, required by state law in Minnesota to carry a handgun.

Trump’s top advisor Stephen Miller called Pretti a “domestic terrorist” and a “would-be assassin” in a series of posts on Saturday. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press conference on Saturday that the nurse committed an act of “domestic terrorism” and that was “ just the facts.”

Noem also previously said that Renée Nicole Good, the other US citizen who was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis, had committed “an act of domestic terrorism.”

Some on the right have questioned the narrative coming out of the Trump administration and have urged that a thorough investigation take place—even while, often, still praising the president and immigration officials and criticizing Minnesota’s leaders. 

Here’s what some conservatives have said since the Saturday shooting.

“Any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy,” he wrote on X.

“The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake. There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth,” he wrote on X. 

“Well, first off, this is a real tragedy, and I think the death of Americans that we’re seeing on TV, it’s causing deep concerns over federal tactics and accountability. Americans don’t like what they’re seeing right now,” he said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. Stitt then applauded President Trump and how he ran on closing down the border, while criticizing former President Joe Biden. You know, we believe in federalism and states’ rights and nobody likes feds coming into their state. So what’s the goal right now? Is it to deport every single non-US citizen. I don’t think that’s what Americans want.

“Imaging [sic] if one of our MAGA independent journalists or even just a MAGA supporter stood in the street outside a J6’ers house while Biden’s FBI carried out a law enforcement operation, home invasion, and arrest. Then Biden’s FBI goes to the MAGA guy videoing it all and shoves a woman with him to the ground and sprays them with bear spray then throws the MAGA guy to the ground as MAGA guy was trying to help the woman off the ground. Then Biden’s FBI beats MAGA guy on the ground, disarms MAGA guy, and then shoots him dead,” she wrote on X, asking, “What would have been our reaction?”

“I don’t believe this for 2 seconds,” he wrote over a post quoting Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. “Peretti was a radicalized leftist who wanted to “dearrest” and obstruct. He refused to be detained and fought feds. They saw the gun, yelled GUN Gun and he got shot. There’s no reason to think he was trying to massacre LEOs.”

“The President is a great marketer and PR guy.  While those around him may not realize it, I’m pretty sure he understands another dead American with his team rushing to undermine second amendment arguments and define the dead guy with a lot of facts still unknown is a bad look,” he wrote on X. 

“How was he threatening Border Patrol?” she asked in an interview with FBI Director Kash Patel. Bartiromo inquired if federal forces had a handgun in their possession. Patel said they do. “And how was he using that handgun in terms of threatening Border Patrol? What was the threat? He had his camera, right, he was filming it.”