On Jan. 24, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who worked at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center. According to multiple videos analyzed by The Wall Street Journal and investigative collective Bellingcat, Pretti — a concealed carry permit holder — never unholstered his gun. 

Instead, he unholstered his phone.

Customs and Border Protection agents then pepper-sprayed him, tackled him, found his gun, removed it and then opened fire — in that order. The Wall Street Journal identified at least 10 shots fired within 5 seconds.

In response, the most conservative and pro-gun administration in history — nobody’s done more for gun rights than President Donald Trump since this nation’s founding, many people are saying so, thank you for your attention in this matter — claimed that Pretti “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.

Not in his hand or anything. He just had one on him that agents didn’t notice until they tackled him and conducted an impromptu strip search in the Minnesota snow.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli — a Trump administration appointee who, like Sigal Chattah, was appointed as a chief federal criminal prosecutor on an interim basis and attempted to serve beyond that appointment in an acting capacity — added on X that, “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!”

FBI Director Kash Patel made a similar pitch on Fox News, saying, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.”

Anyone who’s old enough to remember Cliven Bundy’s armed standoff in the Nevada desert against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2014 knows that none of this is true.

As a refresher, Bundy declared a “range war” after the BLM started to seize and impound any of his cattle they found on BLM-managed public lands. In his declaration, Bundy called on “the citizens of Clark County, the citizens of America” — including then-Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who, according to Bundy, was “the only one with the policing power and arresting power in Clark County” and had “more constitutional policing power than the president of the United States and his army” — to come and defend his ranch.

Hundreds responded. Members of several armed militias showed up, waved flags, took up positions and dared the BLM to fire the first shot.

In response, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department — the primary law enforcement agency for rural Clark County — deployed approximately 30 officers to stand between the protesters and the BLM. According to an 8 News Now (KLAS-TV) report, officers saw “people in the back of pickup trucks with rifles and shotguns,” many of them trying to goad the police into opening fire.

On scene that day was then-assistant sheriff and current Gov. Joe Lombardo. According to Lombardo, the protesters were in his face yelling profanities and pointing weapons. One protester even asked an officer if he was ready to die.

Did Metro or the BLM shoot anyone? No. “The bottom line is, bloodshed over cattle, unacceptable. Nobody wanted to go in that direction,” Lombardo said.

Instead, Lombardo ordered the release of the impounded cattle. The BLM decided it would prosecute the Bundy family for interfering with the impoundment. Cooler heads prevailed.

One gun-toting conservative — Nevada’s very own Michele Fiore, who once advocated in favor of a campus carry bill by asking The New York Times, “If these young, hot little girls on campus have a firearm, I wonder how many men will want to assault them?” — even gained national attention by embedding herself into Bundy’s movement and becoming a comparative voice of reason, at least by the standards of her new friends.

With the benefit of hindsight, of course, we know how Bundy’s prosecution turned out. The case against him was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Gloria Navarro, an Obama appointee who was recommended by Sen. Harry Reid, after finding that prosecutors committed “flagrant misconduct” by withholding evidence.

We also know, with the benefit of hindsight, exactly how Trump and his supporters feel about armed protesters — at least when they’re the ones doing the protesting. Armed men in tactical gear stormed the State Capitol in Michigan a few years later to protest against coronavirus-related restrictions — Trump called them “very good people.” After he was re-elected in 2024, Trump also pardoned nearly everyone involved in the planned uprising that took place on his behalf on Jan. 6, 2021.

The right to bear arms, of course, is not the first right to be violated by the Trump administration in Minnesota, nor will it likely be the last. For example, it was recently reported that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) distributed a secret memo to its agents that claimed the agency didn’t need judicial warrants to forcibly enter people’s homes. A federal judge ruled such activity unconstitutional the day before Pretti was murdered. 

Even so, the hypocrisy from the sort of people who would otherwise gleefully pose with their rifles in holiday calendars is galling.

Thankfully, having exhausted every other alternative, Nevada’s Democrats are finally stepping up. Citing ICE’s gross abuses of power, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) announced that they would not vote in support of any bill that funds ICE. Expanding this position to include the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency that employed those who murdered Pretti, would be a welcome addition, but it’s a good start.

Additionally, Rosen recently called for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees ICE and CBP. Calling for the impeachment of Patel and every other federal official who’s demanded the unconstitutional disarmament of protesters would be welcome as well but, again, this is also a good start.

Even so, our senators must count votes. So long as Republicans remain more loyal to their president than to the Constitution, Cortez Masto and Rosen won’t have the votes they need to impeach a potted plant, much less a sitting federal official. That is why it’s on us this year, as voting citizens, to bring accountability to our elected officials and demand they respect our constitutional freedoms. 

If you’re inclined to vote for Republicans, very well — ask the Republican candidates on your ballot how they feel about armed protesters. Do they categorically support our constitutional rights? Or do they only support them when they benefit the president’s increasingly mercurial whims and desires? If they come around and begin to meaningfully oppose this administration by supporting the impeachment of irresponsible federal officials, consider rewarding good behavior. If they don’t, remember that as well in November and vote against them.

If you’re more inclined to vote for Democrats, meanwhile, hold your candidates accountable as well. Do they talk like they’re mindlessly chasing polls the way pigeons chase breadcrumbs? Are they trying to connect every issue, no matter how insipidly, to health care and “affordability” because some centrist blogger told them those are the only two issues voters still trust Democrats on? Or are they able to look up from the ocean of data their consultants are trying to drown them in to clearly see and articulate the difference between right and wrong?

Either way, find and support candidates who will hold this lawless administration and the people who constitute it accountable. If the dead bodies of Renee Good and Alex Pretti aren’t enough to make elected officials confront the threats posed by this administration, tell them off — loudly and in writing — and find new ones to support this year.

David Colborne ran for public office twice. He is now an IT manager, the father of two sons, and a recurring opinion columnist for The Nevada Independent. You can follow him on Mastodon @[email protected], on Bluesky @davidcolborne.bsky.social, on Threads @davidcolbornenvor email him at [email protected]. You can also message him on Signal at dcolborne.64.