ICE Assassinates the 2nd Amendment
ICE Assassinates the 2nd Amendment
By J.D. Murphy
On Sunday, January 25, 2026, the Wall Street Journal published a frame-by frame analysis of Minnesotan Alex Pretti’s murder by an ICE agent: “Federal officers pulling a handgun away—a second later, an agent fires several times.” “Where’s the gun?” agents shouted in the chaotic aftermath. Pretti pinned to the ground…agents appear to discover a firearm. Less than a second later, one of the agents fires his weapon toward Pretti…the first of ten shots within five seconds.”
The New York Times also published an analysis of the Pretti killing in the context of claims made by President Trump, his representatives, and the Department of Homeland Security, that he was a “domestic terrorist,” despite the fact he waslicensed to carry a gun in open carry Minnesota.
“The Department of Homeland Security said…a man approached Border Patrol agents with a “9mm semi-automatic handgun,” and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene verified by the New York Times shows that the man was holding a phone in his hand when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him.”
“About eight seconds after he (Pretti) is pinned, agents yell that he has a gun, indicating that they may not have known he was armed until he hit the ground. The agents appear to have him under control, with his arms pinned near his head. As the gun emerges from the melee, another agent aims his own firearm at Mr. Pretti’s back and appears to fire one shot at close range. He then appears to continue firing at Mr. Pretti, who collapses. A third agent unholsters his weapon. Both agents appear to fire additional shots into Mr. Pretti as he lies motionless.”
“Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official in charge of agents in Minnesota, claimed that the man was attempting to murder agents. “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.”
The January 25, 2026 New York Post published its analysis of the video footage of the killing of Alex Pretti: “Footage indicates that Pretti’s gun was taken away after officers pinned him to the ground. One video showed an officer holding a weapon. Officers were then opening fire on Pretti, shooting him multiple times.”
Minnesota’s open carry policy for citizen firearms fully acknowledges the right to bear arms as defined in the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, but if ICE agents deployed to seek out and deport illegal aliens, anyone licensed to carry a gun is taking their life into their hands with ICE’s quick on the trigger mentality both protected and promoted by the Trump administration.
The Trump administration asserts that local law enforcement is not cooperating with ICE in their alleged efforts to find and deport illegal aliens, but in dramatic contradiction, the Trump administration is blocking all independent inquiries into the ICE shootings and killings of Minnesota citizens.
Gun Owners of America: “Federal agents are not ‘highly likely’ to be ‘legally justified’ in shooting concealed carry licensees.”
The Gun Rights Advocacy Company ‘A Better Way 2A: “What happened in Minneapolis shows that ICW will treat the mere presence of a legal firearm as the justification for lethal force. Carrying a gun is not a crime, yet it was readily used as proof of dangerous intent once Alex Pritti was dead and unable to contribute to the narrative.
New York Times: “Shootings by federal agents are rare. Investigation seeks to answer a basic question: whether an agent had a “reasonable belief” that the person who was shot posed an “imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the agent or another person.”
The eight ICE agents who participated in the killing of Alex Pritti left the scene of the shooting, leaving the death scene unsecured.
Gregory Bovino, the head of ICE, provided his interpretation of the killing of Alex Pritti: “The victims are the border patrol agents.” (New York Times.)
J.D. Murphy is an American businessman, author, and filmmaker best known for co-founding the University of Phoenix. Born in Portland, Oregon in 1946, Murphy studied at San Jose State University and later taught there while running a community mental health program early in his career. In 1976 he helped launch the University of Phoenix with John Sperling, serving in senior administrative roles focused on government affairs and accreditation before resigning in 1997. As a filmmaker and writer, Murphy produced and wrote Valley of the Heart’s Delight (2006) and has authored books including Jury Rigging in the Court of Public Opinion, Mission Forsaken: The University of Phoenix Affair with Wall Street, and American Incendiary Populism. He lives in St. Helena, California, where he operates the Sang-Froid Vineyards on his property.