Alex Pretti red-ish background

Molly Butler, Media Matters / Original screenshot via ABC News

The killing of Alex Pretti by federal agents has led some right-leaning streamers and political podcast figures to break ranks

Some voices spoke out against the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents, while MAGA loyalists including Benny Johnson, Alex Jones, and Steve Bannon justified the killing and defended the Trump administration

Written by John Knefel & Sophie Lawton

Research contributions from Media Matters Staff

Published

Some right-leaning streamers and political podcasters criticized the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Saturday, breaking ranks with the Trump administration and its die-hard loyalists in MAGA media.

News outlets and outside experts — including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Bellingcat — reviewed video of the incident and determined that Pretti had been disarmed by an agent on the scene prior to the Border Patrol agent’s initial shot. Pretti is reported to have had a permit to carry a concealed weapon, which is legal in Minnesota, and the reports show he was not holding the handgun when federal agents confronted him.

The media outlets’ analyses contradict early statements from top Trump administration officials. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a press conference that Pretti “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and was “brandishing” it. She also said, “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and kill law enforcement.” Deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller called Pretti an “assassin” and a “domestic terrorist.” Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino — the face of the administration’s mass deportation efforts in Minneapolis and other cities — said Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement” and had “violently resisted” arrest.

Pretti is the second person President Donald Trump’s federal agents have killed in Minneapolis this month. On January 7, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good while she was turning her car away from him, according to independent analyses of the incident.

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  • Some podcasters expressed skepticism over the federal government's use of force and/or the administration’s response

    • Podcaster Dana Loesch said on CBS Mornings: “I wish that Secretary Noem and others would be aware” that “certain words invoke certain statutes and certain penalties … because simply approaching law enforcement with a firearm isn't indicative of ill intent, nor is it a crime.” Loesch, a former National Rifle Association spokesperson, also added, “I want to know what the officers thought because obviously they felt like their lives were in danger.” [CBS News, CBS Mornings, 1/26/26]
    • Streamer Zack Hoyt, who goes by “Asmongold,” called for accountability for ICE and said “there's literally no excuse for” shooting “an unarmed man … being restrained by six other people or seven other people.” Asmongold added that he supports Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s efforts and noted, “Because I'm a supporter of ICE, that means that I need to have accountability for ICE.” [YouTube, Asmongold TV, 1/24/26]
    • Pundit Glenn Greenwald said Trump officials “continue to blatantly lie about these incidents” and said, “I don’t even actually think this is that difficult issue, the question of whether or not this shooting was justified,” adding that Pretti “clearly was no danger to any of those ICE agents.” Greenwald criticized the Trump administration, saying, “I want to focus instead on the fact that the government and various government officials, top-level Trump administration officials, just continue to blatantly lie about these incidents.” [Rumble, System Update with Glenn Greenwald, 1/25/26]
    • Ryan Girdusky argued, “I think there was a lot of mistakes by ICE officers,” and said, “What DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in response to this shooting is an absolute disgrace.” [SiriusXM, It’s a Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky, 1/25/26]
    • Warren Smith of Secret Scholars Society stated, “I think that shooting was a mistake” and criticized people who “immediately blindly try and justify something” for “doing more harm to your cause.” [YouTube, Secret Scholars Society, 1/26/26]
    • Radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge said, “I think an innocent American got killed. I think I’ve looked at every possible angle.” He added: “I don’t know how Trump is going to spin this.” [YouTube, Bubba the Love Sponge Show, 1/26/26]
    • On the Fifth Column podcast, guest Peter Moskos said: “I see bad tactics — in this, in the Renee Good shooting. I mean, I just look at the ICE agents and the way they're handling stuff, and, I mean — they’re bad tactics.” Moskos continued: “As a former cop many, many years ago, like, it’s just kind of painful to watch — like, what the fuck are you guys doing?" [The Fifth Column, 1/24/26]
    • On his podcast, QAnon figure Jon Herold said “I don't think that’s true” about FBI Director Kash Patel’s claim that you can’t bring a firearm to any sort of protest you want. Herold also seemed to push back on “trying to paint” Pretti as “like some sort of criminal,” and he “looks like he was disarmed.” [Badlands Media, The Daily Herold, 1/26/26; Media Matters, 7/22/25]

  • Some podcasters expressed a mixture of concern over the shooting and support for DHS

    • Steven Crowder said that “there have been some members of this administration that have definitely fumbled here” and lightly criticized the actions of DHS, claiming that the shooting “is not as clear-cut as Renee Good.” Crowder said: “There have been a lot of narratives, dueling narratives that are frankly incorrect. People don't really know what they're talking about. They're not taking the time to wait and do their due diligence. And I will say this, there have been some members of this administration that have definitely fumbled here.” Crowder specifically targeted FBI Director Kash Patel, claiming, “His statement here that you have no right to bring a loaded weapon to a protest, that is factually inaccurate and it's the wrong take.” He also added that mass deportations should be increased, but added it should be done in a way that “the American public won't be swayed by these extremists who want to martyr themselves." [Rumble, Louder with Crowder, 1/26/26, 1/26/26]
    • Adam Carolla said it was “a bad shooting” but then seemed to justify the agent’s actions: “You are relying on these people to do something that's not within human capabilities, which is see red, adrenaline dump, scuffle, pepper spray, have no idea who's armed and who's not armed, and not have anybody's gun go off prematurely. That's what you're asking. It's not going to happen." Carolla also said that “stay home would be the answer.” Elsewhere in the episode, Carolla appeared to defend the Trump administration more clearly, arguing that Walz and Frey were “inciting all this stuff.” [YouTube, The Adam Carolla Show, 1/25/26, 1/25/26]
    • Tim Pool criticized the administration’s statements on the shooting, stating, “Either they're happy it's happening, or they're completely inept.” Pool also claimed the fatal shooting was legally “clean” and Pretti was trying to “impede” law enforcement. [YouTube, Timcast, 1/26/26]
    • Michael Savage argued both that Pretti was “looking for trouble” by bringing a gun to a protest but that the ICE officer “absolutely” overreacted and was “out of control.” Savage said, “Two of them have been killed so far, but this is just the beginning if they keep this up, because liberalism is a mental disorder.” [YouTube, The Savage Nation, 1/26/26, 1/26/26]
    • The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro asserted that Pretti was “resisting” and that resisting federal law enforcement “is a crime,” saying, “Do not do it” but later criticized Noem for her statement about Pretti and added, “You are allowed to protest while holding a gun.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 1/26/26, 1/26/26]
    • Buck Sexton said, “This really needs a full investigation because it's not obvious what happened right away. It was obvious with Renee Good as soon as you saw the video. Ran into a guy with a car. Can't do that.” [YouTube, The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, 1/26/26]
    • Tony Katz claimed Pretti was part of an “organized” group of people tracking ICE agents, but later admonished “people on the political right” for implying that he was wrong to carry a weapon. “I will carry a firearm anywhere I choose. And there is nothing wrong with doing so, nothing wrong with doing so at all. And the people engaged in the idea that he was wrong to do so are wrong,” Katz said. [Tony Katz Today, 1/26/26]

  • Some podcasters supported the actions of the administration and federal agents or blamed Pretti for his own killing

    • Benny Johnson argued that “Alex Pretti decided to go Leory Jenkins and go and engage law enforcement” and claimed that he “resisted arrest” and “fought law enforcement.” Johnson had previously claimed on his show that Pretti “attempted to pull this SIG Sauer handgun on federal officers and commit a mass murder.” [YouTube, The Benny Johnson Show, 1/26/26, 1/24/26]
    • Alex Jones blamed Pretti for his own death, stating the Border Patrol agents “thought they were in danger and he came with a gun and stuck himself in the middle of a riot." [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 1/25/26]
    • Vince Coglianese claimed that “law enforcement should not be put into these situations — again, the left is doing this.” [Rumble, Vince, 1/26/26]
    • Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon responded to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s request for the withdrawal of ICE and Border Patrol by demanding an escalation: Trump “should now invoke the Insurrection Act and flood the zone with troops, either federalized National Guard or … go to Fort Bragg where Todd Wood is and bring in the good old 82nd Airborne." [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 1/24/26]
    • Former Trump Department of Defense adviser Graham Allen recommended: “Mr. President, it is time for the Insurrection Act. It is time to stop this with overwhelming force and, if need be, violence.” This was in a podcast episode titled “TOTAL ANARCHY: Another JUSTIFIED Shooting and Walz WANTS Civil War, INSURRECTION ACT NOW!" [Rumble, The Graham Allen Show, 1/26/26, 1/26/26; E&E News, 2/25/25]
    • Megyn Kelly argued that Good and Pretti were killed “because of their own terrible decision-making,” but claimed agents have “had it” with DHS for making “overstatements about what happened.” Kelly said that internal sources reveal “ICE agents, they’ve had it with Kristi Noem and DHS and these overstatements about what happened,” alleging some called the killing a “bad shoot.” Kelly called protesters “agitators,” but added that Trump is “losing on this issue,” suggesting it could lead to a midterm “bloodbath.” Kelly added that “I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Pretti, but I don't. ... Do you know why I wasn't shot by Border Patrol this weekend? Because I kept my ass inside and out of their operations." [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 1/26/26, 1/26/26]
    • Host of the Rumble podcast Live From America Jeremy Herrell claimed Pretti “died because he was in a place he shouldn't have been doing something he shouldn't have done. … I don't have a lot of sympathy or empathy for that.” [Rumble, Live From America, 1/26/26]
    • Dave Rubin claimed that “one of the ICE agents thought he [Pretti] was going for” a weapon and criticized the media for not caring “about the overall tension, they don't give you any of the context that I’m trying to give you here. What they want to do is they want to further your belief that ICE is just on the streets, that masked Nazis are on the streets just trying to kill people. It’s complete nonsense, but that’s what they do.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 1/26/26]
    • Kick streamer Baked Alaska argued “the ICE action was 100% justified and totally vindicated” in the shooting and blamed Pretti for his death, saying he was “fighting with police, he had a gun — I think he must've reached for it. Fuck around, find out.” [Kick, Baked Alaska, 1/24/26]
    • On an episode of his personal podcast, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) blamed Pretti for his own death because “had that individual left his gun at home, he would almost certainly be alive today.” Cruz said, “​In a violent confrontation with law enforcement, if you have a firearm, the odds of that confrontation escalating rise dramatically. Look, police officers don't know if you intend to use that firearm to commit harm — to harm others or to harm them." Cruz also claimed that “we are seeing, sadly, leftists targeting ICE agents for murder." [YouTube, Verdict with Ted Cruz, 1/26/26]  
    • Patrick Bet-David said the left would use Pretti’s killing “for their own benefit,” adding that they “would prefer somebody who was colored or Black, but they’ll still use it.” [YouTube, PBD Podcast, 1/26/26]
    • On his organization’s podcast, Washington Gun Law President William Kirk blamed Pretti for his own death, saying, “It was not the presence of the firearm that got this gentleman killed, but it was all the activity he was engaged in at the time that he got himself killed — once again, proving that the problem is not the gun, but the person who is possessing the gun. It always has been, and it always will be.” [YouTube, Washington Gun Law, 1/26/26]
    • Jeremy Hambly of TheQuartering said about Pretti, “People they just, they go too far, they're outside the bounds of what their First Amendment gives them” and claimed that the Border Patrol agent was “forced to take a man's life.” Hambly also said: “If this man had made different decisions … if he had not been hopped up on the insane rhetoric from Tim Walz and the mayor, Jacob Frey, he would still be with us today.” [YouTube, TheQuartering, 1/26/26]
    • Justin Barclay seemingly blamed Walz for the shooting: “You’re talking about Gov. Tim Walz saying you’ve got to go fight these guys, they're the Gestapo. And then this weekend he said something crazy along the lines of we’ve got another Anne Frank story happening here right in our own backyard. They’re actively pushing this.” Barclay continued, “The media, the politicians on the left, they’re working overtime with propaganda to convince these people that they can have a purpose if they just come join the fight.” [Wood Radio, West Michigan Live with Justin Barclay, 1/26/26]
    • Chicks on the Right podcast co-host Miriam Weaver said she has “no sympathy” for Pretti or Renee Good. Co-host Amy Jo Clarke agreed and added: “Can you imagine being so brainwashed that you go and you attack law enforcement officials who are trying to get rid of pedophiles, rapists, murderers?” [Radio America, Chicks on the Right, 1/26/26]

  • Note

    Media Matters is maintaining a database of online shows with a right-leaning or left-leaning ideological bent, including those that self-categorize in nonpolitical categories such as comedy, sports, and culture but which we determined regularly cover news and politics. This report draws upon that ongoing research in categorizing the online shows mentioned.