The National Rifle Association, the country’s biggest gun lobby, appears to have pushed back on President Donald Trump’s recent assertion that Alex Pretti “shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”
Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, was shot and killed Saturday by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. Federal officials initially accused Pretti of “brandishing” his gun at agents. However, a new preliminary review by a Department of Homeland Security internal watchdog made no mention of Pretti brandishing a weapon.
In the days after the shooting, some Republicans have ripped the nurse for carrying a gun, despite him having a permit for it. That has caused the gun lobby to speak out against those claims.
When asked Tuesday if he agreed with some officials who described Pretti as a domestic terrorist, Trump replied: “I haven’t heard that, but certainly shouldn’t have been carrying a gun.”
The NRA now appears to have responded to Trump’s statement, but did not mention him by name.
“The NRA unequivocally believes that all law-abiding citizens have a right to keep and bear arms anywhere they have a legal right to be,” the gun lobby wrote on X following Trump’s remarks.
This comes after the NRA slammed a Justice Department official appointed by the Trump administration who weighed in on the shooting just hours after it happened.
Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote on X: “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!”
The NRA replied directly to his post, calling his sentiment “dangerous and wrong.”
“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” the NRA wrote.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti was “brandishing” a gun before he was killed. Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s top advisers, called Pretti a “would-be assassin.”
Footage of the shooting shows Pretti was only holding a cell phone in his hand, not a weapon, before federal agents pulled him to the ground and shot him. An analysis by The Washington Post also indicates agents secured a handgun Pretti was carrying before he was shot.
A preliminary review by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility released Tuesday also makes no mention of Pretti brandishing a gun at agents.
Investigators believe Pretti was a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara has said.
