By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A local Fox News affiliate in Minneapolis is reporting that the Hennepin County, Minn., Medical Examiner has ruled the death of ICE protester Alex Pretti last month at the hands of two Border Patrol agents was a homicide.
KMSP/Fox9 said the death of another protester—Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE officer Jan. 7—was also ruled a homicide.
ABC News is also reporting the latest development in the case, which has stirred emotions on both sides of the gun rights issue, with ironic reactions. Prominent Democrats, including Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, have decried Pretti’s death, defending his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, after years of efforts to erode those same rights.
Gun rights organizations have called for an independent investigation, also, because Pretti was legally licensed to carry a handgun, which he had at the time he confronted federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis.
NPR reported that Pretti’s fatal shooting has prompted calls on the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to investigate.
While Pretti is being memorialized, there are videos of him involved in another incident with ICE agents 11 days before he was killed. In that video, he is seen kicking at, and eventually dislodging, the right rear taillight of a federal vehicle. He was physically confronted by an officer but managed to depart. This was all reported by The Guardian on Jan. 29.
The two agents allegedly involved in the fatal shooting have been identified as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, according to the Independent.
There have been various analyses of Pretti’s shooting, and why it happened.
In the aftermath, MSN is reporting a dramatic upsurge in interest among “left-leaning gun advocacy groups” for firearms courses. In a 1,351-word article, MSN says that “gun-shy liberals and leftists are considering getting armed” in the wake of the Pretti shooting, and in reaction to the Trump administration sending federal agents into many communities to round up illegal aliens.
“And while Americans tend to think of gun owners as leaning more Republican and male, already more women, gay people and people of color have taken up arms in recent years, particularly after 2020,” MSN is reporting.
Trump and some of his key staff people have said Pretti should not have been armed the day he died, while White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, “While Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms, Americans do not have a constitutional right to impede lawful immigration enforcement operations.”
According to MSN, some observers of the Minneapolis situation are comparing this incident to the shooting death in 2016 of Minnesota resident Philando Castile. He was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. This was during the final year of Barack Obama’s administration.
MSN makes a point of mentioning the National Rifle Association’s initial tepid response to the Castile shooting. However, there is no mention to the joint call by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Second Amendment Foundation for a full investigation, since Castile was also legally armed at the time he was killed.
Castille was fatally shot in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon in July 2016.
