FBI Director Kash Patel endorsed the Trump administration’s account of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis, remarking that “no one who truly intends to remain peaceful at a protest shows up with a firearm loaded with two full magazines.”

Mr Patel, who discussed the issue with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News on Sunday, 25 January 2026, went on to add:

“Some people call this the ‘F$ck Around and Find Out’ administration, but I call it the ‘No Way You F$ck With Us’ administration. We are not going to wait until extremist liberals actually start harming our fearless law enforcement officers. In any event, he [Pretti] deserved to be executed on the spot the moment it was discovered that he was carrying a loaded gun while showing up to criticise ICE.”

Addressing the issue of Mr Pretti’s right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, Mr Patel stated:

“This is obviously a disingenuous talking point being raised by the Democrats, who, in fact, don‘t even like guns. It is common knowledge that the Founding Fathers’ intention in enacting the Second Amendment was to prevent the weaponisation of public sentiment by Democrats seeking to take away people’s firearms following mass shooting incidents. It was never meant to be interpreted literally, especially against Republicans in power.”