‘That’s one of us’: NRA board members react to immigration shooting in Minneapolis

MANHATTAN (CN) — As the Trump administration continues to face widespread damnation for the slaying of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend, even some of the conservative movement’s fiercest allies are growing disturbed by the government’s inflammatory response. 

Among them, board members of the National Rifle Association, who say administration officials “went too far” in attempts to justify Pretti’s fatal shooting by federal immigration agents.

“I am really frustrated with the Trump administration and a lot of the talking heads,” NRA board member Jeff Knox told Courthouse News in the aftermath.

Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who worked with veterans, was the second U.S. citizen shot and killed by immigration officers in Minnesota this month. Federal officials say Pretti was carrying a SIG Sauer pistol and two magazines at an anti-ICE protest leading up to the shooting.

But he had a legal permit to do so, according to reports, and footage appears to show a handful of federal agents restricting Pretti and disarming him seconds before shooting him several times. At no point did Pretti appear to attack the agents or unholster the firearm, according to videos of the incident.

Still, administration officials used the mere presence of the gun to back up the use of fatal force.

“I don’t know of any peaceful protestor that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters on Saturday.

Echoing Noem the following day, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News that, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.”

For Knox, statements like these are alarming ones for an administration that, in his view, has been “extremely Second Amendment friendly.”

“It is just wrong,” Knox said. “I think it’s a misservice to law-abiding Americans and concealed carriers for Kristi Noem or Kash Patel or any of these conservative talking heads to be using that talking point. It’s really infuriating because it undermines a whole lot of what we’re founded on and what we stand on.”

Fellow board member Willes Lee said the shooting forced him to simultaneously reckon with his support for ICE and his lifelong advocacy for the Second Amendment. He called the statements from Noem and Patel a “huge misstep” for the administration, and hopes they walk them back in the future.

“I carry everywhere,” Lee said. “If I happen to walk past a protest and I’m carrying, I’m carrying. Because I carry everywhere.”

The board members don’t speak for the NRA as an organization, which put out its own statement on Saturday that pointed a finger at “radical progressive” Democrats for anti-ICE rhetoric, but also urged patience before ultimately assigning blame.

“As there is with any officer-involved shooting, there will be a robust and comprehensive investigation that takes place to determine if the use of force was justified,” the NRA said.

One NRA board member, speaking anonymously, told Courthouse News that the statement was so “bland” that he “wasn’t even sure why they put it out there.”

Knox agreed that the statement was “a little weak.”

“I would have liked to have seen it a bit stronger,” he said. “But they’re right that you can’t just jump to a conclusion.”

But the group went further in a subsequent statement, decrying a social media post from an assistant U.S. attorney in California that said, “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”

“This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong,” the NRA said. “Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.”

In recent history, the NRA has been joined at the hip with the Republican Party, boasting one of the strongest arms for any conservative cause and spending millions of dollars backing conservative candidates every election cycle. Its right-wing advocacy at times has exceeded just Second Amendment issues, thanks in large part to its former frontman Wayne LaPierre and his deep ties with prominent Republicans. 

But Knox said the Pretti’s killing has prompted an “unprecedented” response from Republicans in the Trump administration, who in his view are throwing loyal gun rights activists under the bus to save face.

“What it really boils down to is people who don’t truly understand Second Amendment issues and see an opportunity to use a talking point that they desperately need, because the situation is pretty indefensible,” Knox said.

Unlike some of his subordinates, President Donald Trump has been noticeably timid following this latest shooting. He told reporters on Tuesday that he wants to wait for an investigation to play out before drawing a conclusion. 

He has also softened his tone on ICE’s broader effort in Minneapolis, moving Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino — a de facto figurehead for the government’s more violent and public immigration efforts as of late — back to his regional post in California and claiming to have had a “very good call” with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz about immigration enforcement.

NRA board member Phillip Journey, also a state judge in Kansas, is pushing for a probe as well. He told Courthouse News that the incident “stinks like a cover-up,” and thinks both Pretti’s shooting and the earlier ICE killing of Renee Good raise serious due process concerns.

He hopes the administration’s response to Pretti’s gun ownership raises louder alarm bells for his fellow Second Amendment advocates, however.

“It is very possible that some people are going to need to see the light,” Journey said. “They need to put themselves in the position of, ‘What if it was my kid? What if it was my family?’

“And now that we’ve got a carry permit holder as the next victim, I think that gave everybody a little pause to think like, ‘That’s one of us.’”

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