01/27/2026
Alex Pretti: The Constitution Doesn't Defend Itself
By now, you’ve heard about the death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend. Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse who worked at the VA. He was shot and killed during an encounter with federal immigration agents.
The incident sparked immediate public backlash, largely because multiple bystander videos directly conflict with early official statements about what happened in the moments leading up to the shooting. There are serious unanswered questions not only about the use of force itself, but also about how quickly firm conclusions were announced before a full investigation could be completed.
Three points to make here:
1. Pretti was lawfully carrying a firearm and was lawfully recording federal employees.
There's another hot take going around social media from the "comply or die" crowd. The take is that if Pretti had just not been there to record ICE, or if Pretti had not taken his gun, then he would not have been shot. FAFO.
First, Pretti did nothing objectionable by observing and recording ICE. He was lawfully present on the sidewalk and had his camera out (currently still legal as well). The argument boils down to:
"I don't like that he was there to observe ICE. Just let ICE do their job. If he had not been there to watch, he would not have been shot."
Turns out, this actually isn't even an argument. You don't get to shoot people just because you disagree with them or the lawful things that they do. Is our country really to the point that we have to argue about that?
Sadly, many of my fellow 2nd Amendment enthusiasts exposed a complete lack of principles over the weekend. The right to bear arms does not apply only to people on "your team."
2. ICE acting like thugs damages the credibility of good officers nationwide.
At the beginning of 2025, there were roughly 10,000 federal ICE agents. In about a year, that number has more than doubled to around 22,000. It baffles the mind to think that you can double the size of an agency that size in a year while still providing proper training, education, and weeding out bad apples. In fact, I think it's impossible.
And we are seeing that massive failure almost every day in Minnesota. How do you hire 12,000 agents in a year? And what 12,000 people are jobless, unemployed, or not in a strong career already, and are also hungry for a chance to enforce authority over others?
The government still refuses to release the name of Pretti's killer, but I have a strong suspicion that it was just some dude in a hoodie hired off the street to do a job. Meaning, not a well trained officer that understood and appreciated the responsibility of his badge. Then again, our own federal government is decrying the fact the Pretti was carrying a legal firearm under the second amendment. If our own government doesn't understand the Constitution, how can they possibly train officers to honor it?
As a collateral consequence, all law enforcement officers nationwide now get to sleep a little less peacefully at night. Trust in the government is diminished. Trust in good officers who do their job correctly and protect their community is diminished. Their community support and trust is diminished.
3. The Constitution does not defend itself.
Ideally, upholding the Constitution is the government's job. When it fails, it is the job of the citizenry to hold them accountable. Rights do not protect themselves. And the moment we stop demanding change and transparency from the government is when we start to actually lose our freedoms. No one should celebrate unaccountable government action.
Even if you are not sympathetic to Pretti's presumed political views, his rights are the same as yours. The government running roughshod over his means that it will do the same to yours.
Defend the Constitution, and the rights of all of us, out of principle and not just convenience. You have to look out for your neighbor as well as yourself.
