Kyle Rittenhouse has rejected attempts to compare him to Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old ICU nurse who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis over the weekend.
Why It Matters
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing renewed scrutiny over enforcement tactics amid heightened operations in Minneapolis. That scrutiny intensified after a federal agent shot and killed Pretti during a day of protests.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun.” However, videos verified by multiple news outlets reportedly show Pretti holding a phone in his right hand, with nothing visible in his left hand, before he was shot—contradicting the agency’s account.
Pretti was legally conceal-carrying a handgun at the time of his death. Local media, citing authorities and public records, reported he had no serious criminal history.
What To Know
Rittenhouse, posting on X, pushed back after Jeffries compared the two men in a social media post.
“Hakeem Jeffries is a gay communist. It was his supporters — pedophiles and woman beaters — who ATTACKED me in the streets of Kenosha. Now he wants to continue defending these degenerates and use my situation for rage bait and stoke the flames. NOPE,” Rittenhouse wrote.
In his Facebook post, Jeffries wrote: “Armed vigilante kills two civilians in Wisconsin and is called a hero by Trump and Far-Right extremists. Law-abiding VA nurse is killed by masked thugs in Minnesota and they label him a domestic terrorist. These are sick people.”
Rittenhouse rose to national attention after the August 2020 shootings during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha. He was 17 at the time and said he acted in self-defense. He was acquitted of all charges in November 2021.
Earlier in January, Rittenhouse also addressed the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent—also in Minneapolis—during an interview for The Caitlin Sinclair Show.
“Agent [Jonathan] Ross, his identity has already been put out there publicly. He’s been doxed. His family has been forced to go into hiding. Very similar to what happened to me—immediately being doxed. My home address being put out there, calls for death threats, bounties put out on him,” he said. “Similar to me, I’ve had bounties put out against me.”
The Trump administration’s response to the shooting has also drawn criticism from gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, which has often aligned with Republicans. In a post to X, the NRA criticized a federal prosecutor for suggesting there is a “high likelihood” an officer would be “legally justified” in shooting someone who approaches law enforcement with a gun.
“This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong. Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” the NRA wrote.
The debate has also fueled broader comparisons between Rittenhouse and Pretti.
“So Kyle Rittenhouse, who attended a protest armed with a loaded assault rifle and killed 2 people is a right-wing hero. But Alex Pretti who had a holstered, permitted handgun, was recording ICE, and tried to help a pepper-sprayed woman deserved to die? No one is buying this BS,” journalist Ahmed Baba wrote on X.
The Libertarian Party of Texas wrote on X: “Kyle Rittenhouse and Alex Pretti both had the legal right to carry. If you believe one had that right and the other didn’t, you don’t believe in rights—you believe in permission for people you agree with.”
What People Are Saying
The National Association for Gun Rights, on X: “Carrying an extra magazine implies nothing. Holsters designed to carry spare magazines are common and widely sold. Training resources and guides across the internet actively recommend it. Thousands of law-abiding Americans do this every day. This is standard, not overkill. Claiming otherwise sets a dangerous precedent for Second Amendment rights and creates an easy backdoor argument for magazine bans and similar legislation.”
Tricia McLaughlin, DHS spokeswoman, to Newsweek on Saturday: “This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Democratic Tim Walz, writing on X after the shooting: “I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”
What Happens Next
Lawmakers from both parties have called for a thorough investigation into Pretti’s death, as questions continue to mount about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
