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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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Right-wing media figures are claiming, once again, that anti-ICE protesters are paid agitators

Following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, some claimed he was paid to be there, while others suggested progressive groups or foreign governments were involved

Written by Jack Winstanley & Torri Lonergan

Published

Amid the ongoing protests against President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown in Minnesota, right-wing media figures have revived their oft-repeated claim that there are “paid protesters and agitators” who are being compensated for their actions by some outside force. Following the fatal January 24 shooting of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, some right-wing media figures have claimed that Pretti himself was paid to be there. In their search for a bogeyman, right-wing media have even suggested that foreign governments are somehow behind the protests. 

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  • Amid ongoing anti-ICE protests in Minnesota and fallout from federal agents killing Alex Pretti, right-wing media figures are reviving their claims of paid agitators

    • On January 24, Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis fatally shot Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital. This shooting followed the January 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis. Both Pretti and Good were reportedly U.S. citizens with no criminal record who were shot while observing federal immigration operations in Minnesota. White House officials defended the Pretti shooting by labeling him a “domestic terrorist” and a “would-be assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” but multiple independent analyses of footage from the scene suggest these claims are false. ABC News reported that “videos appear to contradict, at least in part, claims by federal officials that Pretti ‘approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun’ and ‘attacked’ officers carrying out immigration duties.” [The Associated Press, 1/24/26; Media Matters, 1/28/26; ABC News, 1/26/26; Forbes, 1/26/26]
    • Right-wing media outlets largely justified the shooting or blamed Pretti for his own death, with some figures breaking ranks to criticize DHS agents’ conduct. In the days following the shooting, figures on Fox News blamed Pretti and said the shooting was justified, while right-wing podcasters argued that Pretti “fought law enforcement” and declared that “the ICE action was 100% justified and totally vindicated.” However, some criticized what they saw as “bad tactics” from the agents and said the shooting was “a mistake.” Going further, Newsmax senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano labeled the shooting “murder,” adding, “There's no justification for that under the law whatsoever.” [Media Matters, 1/25/26, 1/28/26, 1/26/26, 1/26/26, 1/25/26]
    • The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that protesters are paid by outside groups in an effort to legitimize crackdowns. Amid the June 2025 anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles, Trump baselessly claimed that protesters were “agitators,” “paid,” and “professionals,” and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard seemingly cited an irrelevant Craigslist ad from pranksters to claim there are “ads put up on Craigslist offering people thousands of dollars a week to go out and conduct these violent and dangerous riots.” Similarly, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy alleged that No Kings protesters were paid, claiming that “it begs the question who's funding it,” and Trump called anti-ICE protesters in Portland “paid terrorists.” Several GOP figures labeled the 2025 No Kings protests as being filled with “paid protesters,” with similar claims being levied against other anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests. [The New York Times, 6/13/25; Media Matters, 10/15/25, 9/29/25]
    • Right-wing media have long alleged that protests they oppose are led by paid activists. In 2020, right-wing media accused George Soros of funding Black Lives Matters protests, and Rush Limbaugh claimed protesters were paid “actors” pretending to be mothers and veterans. After an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis, Fox News contributor Paul Mauro said being an agitator is “a career path for a lot of people in today’s left,” claiming, “They are drawing salaries that are, at least in part, funded by American taxpayers. They get all kinds of grants, always from the Democratic Party or left-leaning groups that have ties to the Democratic Party.” Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson labeled Good a “paid agitator.” [Media Matters, 10/7/20, 7/28/20, 1/9/26; Fox News, 1/9/26]
    • Right-wing media figures and influencers have latched onto chats on the encrypted messaging app Signal as evidence of an organized “Minnesota insurrectionists” group. FBI Director Kash Patel has launched an investigation into the chats, telling MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson that the Bureau is looking into whether they show activities that “illegally entraps and puts law enforcement in harm’s way.” MS NOW reporter Brandy Zadrozny noted that “this kind of community group chat has become common in Chicago, Los Angeles and Minneapolis, where neighbors and activists are using the apps to organize and monitor ICE operations amid President Donald Trump’s federal crackdowns.” [MS NOW, 1/28/26; The Guardian, 1/27/26]
    • January polling has shown that Trump's handling of immigration and federal immigration officers’ conduct is unpopular with American voters. In a poll conducted after an ICE agent killed Good in Minnesota, a New York Times/Siena poll found that 61% of registered voters found ICE's tactics had “gone too far” and that 58% disapproved of how Trump is handling immigration. Pew Research Center's survey of U.S. adults conducted January 20-26 found that 72% say it is unacceptable for federal immigration officers to check immigration status based on appearance or the language they speak, and 61% say it is unacceptable for officers to wear face coverings that hide their identities. [The New York Times, 1/23/26; ABC News, 1/26/26; Pew Research Center, 1/29/26]

  • Some right-wing media figures suggested that the protesters in Minnesota are paid actors, including claims that Pretti himself was “probably” a paid protester

    • Fox host Brian Kilmeade claimed that some protesters are “getting paid” and stated that protesters are moving “not like a militia, as a militia.” Kilmeade also appeared to blame the protesters for a prospective government shutdown over funding for ICE and DHS, stating that their behavior “leads us all to a government shutdown.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/27/26]
    • Newsmax host Rob Finnerty asked right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson if “you think that 37-year-old ICU nurse, Alex Pretti, might have been paid to be out there?” Johnson declined to respond to the accusation that Pretti was paid but did declare that he “won’t accept this false premise that somehow this is a martyr.” [Newsmax, Finnerty, 1/26/26]
    • Fox News' Rachel Campos-Duffy questioned “who is funding this” and claimed she saw “things online about the democratic socialist party” funding the protests. Correspondent Matt Finn replied that he “couldn’t tell you right now where the funding is coming from. What I can tell you is that we have seen a highly organized anti-ICE network here in the Twin Cities.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 1/25/26]
    • Fox contributor Paul Mauro said he can “guarantee you there is a strong contingent of professional protesters there” in Minneapolis. He added, “They’re being funded. They know how to train these protesters. They know how to rile them up.” [Fox News, Fox News Live, 1/24/26]
    • Podcaster Patrick Bet-David declared that part of “the left’s formula for creating chaos” is to “deploy NGOs to fund paid protesters and agitators.” Bet-David claimed that “Republicans don’t go hire agitators. That's the playbook of the opposing side.” [Valuetainment Media, PBD Podcast, 1/24/26]
    • Benny Johnson claimed that Pretti was a “left-wing agitator, probably a professional paid agitator.” He added that Pretti’s killing was, after the January 7 killing of Renee Good, “the second time that a leftist paid protester, agitator, terrorist has been killed in self-defense by federal law enforcement for attempting to commit murder.” [The Benny Show, 1/24/26]
    • Podcaster Jon Herold called protesters “paid crisis actors.” Herold also stated that if the protesters “have an organized Signal chat where they can get assigned tasks and duties to help interfere, they’re also being paid for the most part.” Herold, who is also known online as “Patel Patriot,” came to prominence in the QAnon community after the 2020 presidential election. [Badlands Media, The Daily Herold, 1/26/26; Media Matters, 7/22/25]

  • Some right-wing media figures accused Democratic officials or “progressive organizations” of organizing the protests

    • Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy called the protests “astroturfed,” adding, “There is an absolute organized thing going on here with the democratic socialists, all kinds of NGOs.” Campos-Duffy added that “Democrats often see a political advantage in seeing this kind of chaos and I think that's something we need to look into — who is funding this? Who is benefiting from this?” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 1/25/26]
    • Right-wing influencer Rogan O’Handley, known online as “DC Draino,” accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of being a “Marxist” who is “using his staff to organize violent riots across the state to distract.” He claimed that Walz’s “evil plan,” which they “thankfully stopped,” was to “get elected Governor of Minnesota, import 3rd world immigrants, and use them as money laundering machines,” and “funnel billions back into Democrat bribes, non-profits, and PACs via straw donors with ActBlue.” [Truth Social, 1/25/26]
    • Fox News correspondent Rich Edson said, “There are reports of labor unions, progressive organizations, socialist groups, and communists organizing or encouraging protests.” Fox anchor Dana Perino stated, “There are questions about who may be behind the protests in Minneapolis and other cities, as officials say the violence is being fueled by organized groups on the far-left.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 1/27/26]
    • Former DHS adviser Chuck Marino stated on Fox News that Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison cooperated to “incite and promote confrontations amongst the public and law enforcement.” He also claimed that “many” of the protesters are “from outside the region” and “show up because they are being organized and paid to do so.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 1/26/26]

  • Some right-wing media figures baselessly claimed that foreign actors or governments are somehow behind the protests

    • Peter Schweizer of the Government Accountability Institute said on Fox News, “We know that foreign powers like Mexico are actively involved in organizing what they call the resistance to Donald Trump.” He told Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo, “I think the chaos in Minneapolis is absolutely horrifying, and I think that foreign actors benefit from that.” [Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures, 1/25/26]
    • Citing Schweizer, Fox’s Rachel Campos-Duffy suggested “the Mexican government [is] potentially involved through their consulates in encouraging this.” Campos-Duffy asked, “Who is organizing this? Who is providing the supplies for this? A lot of people saying they’re nebulous NGOs. … Is it these NGOs that we still fund through our government organizations? Some people have suggested that — there have been reports by Peter Schweizer and others saying that the Mexican government potentially involved through their consulates in encouraging this.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 1/25/26]
    • Ruthless Podcast co-host John Ashbrook told Megyn Kelly that Democrats “are backing this foreign-funded insurgency in Minnesota.” Ashbrook asked, “Under what circumstances would you align with foreign billionaires who are pumping money into ruining this country?” [Sirius XM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 1/27/26]