'Fundamentally wrong:' Gun groups, Republicans condemn Noem, Patel statements; Axios, January 25, 2026

Marc Caputo, Axios; 'Fundamentally wrong:' Gun groups, Republicans condemn Noem, Patel statements

"A Minnesota gun-rights group accused Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI director Kash Patel of spreading misinformation about the right to bear arms at protests.

Why it matters: The Trump administration's misstatements about Alex Pretti's shooting death are damaging its credibility even with allies, especially in the gun-rights community.

• "We're getting it from all sides," a Trump adviser told Axios on Sunday.
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Zoom in: Appearing on "Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo," Patel said, "You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It's that simple. You don't have a right to break the law."

• Patel was echoing Noem, who said Saturday, "I don't know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign."
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• The Gun Owners Caucus of Minnesota was quick to dispute Patel's statements, posting on Xthat Patel was "completely incorrect on Minnesota law. There is no prohibition on a permit holder carrying a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines at a protest or rally in Minnesota."
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• The group's president, Rob Doar, told Axios that Noem's understanding of Minnesota gun law was "fundamentally wrong," and he took issue with her statements about Pretti not having his ID while he carried his concealed weapon.
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State of play: Minnesota law does not prohibit carrying a loaded firearm to a protest, according to the caucus' webpage as well as information from gun-control advocates like Everytown.

• An FBI spokesperson said Patel wasn't speaking to the letter of the law, per se, but to the practicalities of showing up to a protest armed and coming into conflict with law enforcement.
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• Protest groups in Minnesota specifically advise demonstrators to not bring firearms or "weapons of any kind" regardless of what the law allows.
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Pressure on DHS

The big picture: President Trump was already complaining about his collapsing immigration poll numbers from videos showing aggressive DHS confrontations with citizen protesters — and that was before the Jan. 7 shooting of Minneapolis protester Renee Good, Axios first reported.

• DHS was also facing a credibility problem over misstatements by top Border Patrol enforcer Greg Bovino and by Homeland Security's spokesperson before Pretti's shooting.
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• Noem, who faces calls for impeachment from Democrats, complicated the situation with her Saturday comments.
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• Echoing a DHS statement on X, Noem said that "an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect reacted violently."
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Reality check: Videos shot from different angles tell a different story. The conflict did not stem from Pretti's possession of a gun:

• Pretti had no visible weapon: He clearly had a smartphone recording video in his right hand. His left hand was free, videos show."

The Trump Administration Is Lying About Gun Rights and the Death of Alex Pretti; Reason, January 25, 2026

ROBBY SOAVE, Reason; The Trump Administration Is Lying About Gun Rights and the Death of Alex Pretti

"As with the killing of Renee Good two weeks ago, the legal threshold at which lethal force can be justified is whether the officer who killed Pretti reasonably feared for his own safety. Only a careful, impartial investigation can determine that. The Justice Department has declined to conduct such an investigation into Good's death, instead seeking to investigate the victim's family.

Video footage of Pretti's death shows federal agents using pepper spray on protesters. Pretti appears to be recording the altercation with his cell phone. After an agent shoves one of the protesters to the ground, Pretti moves to assist her. Several CBP agents then decide to bring Pretti down.

It's conceivable that the agent who shot Pretti had the impression that he was reaching for his weapon—though the first shot clearly went off after another agent disarmed the protester. It's also possible that the killer didn't have even that much justification. Yet federal authorities have all but ruled out that possibility, and are making abjectly false statements in support of their mendacious posture.

Noem has repeatedly claimed it as a fact that Pretti intended to harm officers. "This individual showed up to a law enforcement operation with a weapon and dozens of rounds of ammunition," she told reporters. "He wasn't there to peacefully protest. He was there to perpetuate violence." Miller flatly asserted that Pretti was a "domestic terrorist" who "tried to assassinate federal law enforcement."

These are lies. They have no evidence that Pretti wanted to kill anyone. Even if evidence were unexpectedly to come out tomorrow that he was secretly a would-be assassin, it would still be wrong for officials to state as fact that Pretti intended to kill. There are no known facts that establish murder as his motivation. This is a man who was watching officers interact with protesters and recording it on his phone. Contrary to what the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X, he did not approach law enforcement, let alone with a gun drawn."

Lawmaker: Backlash on Reporter Registry Bill Made Point; Associated Press via New York Times, 1/25/16

Associated Press via New York Times; Lawmaker: Backlash on Reporter Registry Bill Made Point:

"The South Carolina legislator whose journalism registry proposal touched off a media firestorm said Monday he never actually wanted to require reporters to register with the state, but the instant backlash made his point.

By "immediately screaming First Amendment," the media reacted to his bill exactly as he expected, Rep. Mike Pitts told The Associated Press.

The retired law enforcement officer said he mirrored the state's concealed weapon permit law in proposing a "responsible journalism registry," substituting language he found in journalistic associations' ethics codes.

"Do I really want to register reporters? No. I don't want to register guns or pens. I'd prefer to have a lot less government," said Pitts, R-Laurens.

But he did want to spark discussion on what he calls media bias in treating free speech rights under the First Amendment as more sacrosanct than gun rights under the Second Amendment."