By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and Attorney General Nick Brown, both Democrats, have thrust themselves into the ongoing controversy surrounding the shooting death of an armed man in Minneapolis during a protest against Border Patrol and ICE activities on Saturday.
The shooting death of Alex Pretti by an unidentified officer during a physical altercation is causing shockwaves through the firearms community because he was armed with a handgun. Gun rights advocates have demanded a full and impartial investigation of the fatal shooting, arguing that it is not illegal for a private citizen to be armed, even at a protest.
Opinions are widely differing about the incident, with one analysis suggesting that Pretti’s gun, a SIG P320, may have involuntarily discharged after being removed from its holster by one officer involved in the melee. That analysis appears in a video posted by Braden Langley at Langley Outdoors Academy and reported at Ammoland News.
A second video analysis, this one by the New York Times, also offers details which refute initial claims that Pretti approached agents with a handgun. While he did turn out to be armed, there is no pistol in either hand.
The shooting, and comments made in the aftermath, has stirred a firestorm into which the gun rights community has become involved after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino asserted Pretti had “brandished” a weapon, while available videos of the event clearly show Pretti did not have a gun in his hand.
Quoted by the Associated Press, Bill Sack, legal director for the Second Amendment Foundation, expressed disappointment at statements from the Trump administration, and suggested the remarks may “cost them dearly with the core of a constituency they count on.”
During a Monday press event, Ferguson and Brown accused ICE of being “totally out of control.”
“As angry as we are,” Ferguson said, “Attorney General Brown and I are focused on preparing, to the fullest extent possible, for a similar escalation by ICE here — against our will — in Washington state. We are prepared to use every tool at our disposal to mitigate harms inflicted by ICE and protect all Washingtonians. We all have agency in defending our democracy. Whatever our station in life happens to be, we all have a responsibility to speak out, peacefully make our voices heard, and assist our fellow Washingtonians. We will not allow this administration to turn our nation into an authoritarian regime.”
Seattle has been the scene of anti-ICE protests in recent days, but so far, nobody has been shot. Licensed concealed carry is legal in the state, but open carry of firearms in proximity to public demonstrations is not allowed.
KOMO News, the Seattle-based ABC News affiliate, quoted State Rep. Jim Walsh, chairman of the State Republican Party, who criticized Ferguson and Brown.
“My concern is an individual might hear this rhetoric from the governor and decide to physically confront a federal law enforcement agent in the midst of executing an immigration warrant, and that’s when people get shot,” said Walsh.
“And some of these tracks back to his social media posts of the last few days, where he was encouraging people to get active and not sit there, and calling authoritarian drift in our public policy. This is inflammatory language,” Walsh added.
