this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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In a heated interview with CNN‘s Dana Bash on Sunday, Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said his agents were the real “victims” in the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protestor.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old Veterans Affairs nurse, was killed by Border Patrol agents on Saturday. In videos of the deadly altercation between Pretti and several agents, he can be seen placing himself between an agent and several women that he was shoving. Pretti is sprayed with a chemical irritant and then wrestled to the ground, where one agent repeatedly hit him in the head with the irritant’s metal canister. Pretti, who was legally carrying a firearm, was fatally shot by agents while on the ground.

DHS immediately painted Pretti as a threat, saying that officers feared for their lives because Pretti was legally carrying a firearm. Multiple videos of the shooting contradicted the official line that Pretti was threatening agents. On Sunday, Bash pressed Bovino for evidence “that he was intending to massacre law enforcement.”

When Bash repeatedly asserted Pretti’s right to carry his firearm, Bovino made the bold claim that Pretti forfeited his Second Amendment rights via his actions.

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[–] ClownStatue@piefed.social 250 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Weird thing is this is the “government takeover” the 2nd amendment nuts have been screaming about for generations. Not at all surprised that they’re mostly silent now. Also not at all surprised it their own political party who’s doing this.

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I keep seeing this take and it's half thought out at best. First of all, I don't think it's true. There are plenty of armed citizens not sympathetic to ICE in any way. They are reasonable adults who have not felt it necessary up to this point to engage in a last resort effort that is likely to endanger tens of thousands of people at minimum. You may think we are already past that point, and we may well be, but you can't deny that wanting to be sure it is necessary before taking up arms against their countrymen is exactly what a reasonable adult with a firearm should do.

Second, if what you are saying is true and there are no reasonable citizens with guns then the logical course of action is to buy a gun, organize in your community, and practice your 2nd Amendment rights as you see fit. They don't just apply to conservatives despite what Bovino is trying to argue. Complaining about the past isn't going to change the future so if you see a gap, fill it.

Now I don't know if you're American or not but I do see this sentiment from Americans on a regular basis and that is who am I addressing.

[–] null@piefed.nullspace.lol 59 points 1 week ago

I don't think they meant "all gun owning citizens" when they said "2nd amendment nuts". I think they were talking about a particular type of person who bases their whole identity around owning guns to fight against the government.

[–] breezeblock@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I don’t think he’s saying the second amendment tells you use your guns to shoot people when there is anything you consider tyrannical government oppression, only that having the guns are supposed to preempt that problem in theory — and the theory is clearly invalidated.

The fact that traditional second amendment proponents (the NRA) have backed away from that theory and now side with the proto fascist tyrannical government demonstrates the argument was always bankrupt and was never a principle in practice.

That said — you correctly point out that there still room for people to actually start using said guns for shooting, which is indeed the logical next step. Putin is shitting himself laughing.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

Weird thing is this is the “government takeover” the 2nd amendment nuts have been screaming about for generations.

No no no. You're thinking of the Civil Rights Act. That's what they were complaining about.

These people have been led around by the nose their whole lives. The same people who have been shouting this nonsense at the 2nd losers are the ones who were inevitably going to pull this.

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[–] xenomor@lemmy.world 157 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

The fascist will say anything, regardless of reality, logic, or even internal consistency, to advance his self interested power grab and all of the violence it requires. He has no moral code and no allegiance to law. He cannot be reasoned with doesn’t deserve that kind of deference. Once he achieves control, he cannot be voted out of power.

[–] n4ch1sm0@piefed.social 32 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Wielding postmodernism as a weapon; the only truth to them is their truth. Fucking psychopaths.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago

... which is why they love religion so much

Objective provable reality is secondary to "Belief" ... "Faith" ... "I feel it"

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 105 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 89 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] ozoned@piefed.social 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, but the picture is obviously a casual tour of the Capitol. That's the lie they've told and lies before that and this is another round of lies people want to believe. And I'm sure I'll hear it spouted when I'm out and about.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They were mostly peaceful, allegedly, and nobody got hurt (if you don't count the people that got hurt or killed).

You're a terrorist assassin deserving of execution if you help a woman who was shoved over in the snow, but attempting to climb through a secure and barricaded door in the face of multiple people with their weapons drawn then being shot makes you a tragic victim worth of a multi-million dollar settlement.

War is Peace, also

[–] DaddleDew@lemmy.world 59 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There was a lot more than just the 2nd amendment right that was being violated there.

[–] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Something, something, inalienable rights, something, something, life, liberty...

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[–] shittydwarf@piefed.social 47 points 1 week ago (4 children)

This guy certainly is embracing the nazi lifestyle, he ever gonna face consequences?

[–] Anothername@lemmy.cafe 12 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Quite a number of Nazis escaped prosecution. They had to be tracked down over half a century, and still a lot escaped entirely.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Quite a few German Nazis were employed by the US Government after the war:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Paperclip

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Operation Paperclip generally targeted people with an IQ above room temperature. No one in this administration would qualify.

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[–] Wytch@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 week ago

We'll have to try harder this time I guess

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[–] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 46 points 1 week ago (5 children)

At this point I think it's pretty safe to conclude that when the right-wing 2A guys argue that 2A is inviolable/shall not be infringed, they mean it only in the context of service to right-wing politics, not that it's a right that applies to anyone else. In other words, they support the notion of privilege, not rights.

[–] Azal@pawb.social 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

My dad has always said it'd be the Republicans who would take guns.

They're working for it.

[–] chiliedogg@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

California's gun-control culture started with a 1967 law (Mulford Act) designed to outlaw carrying loaded guns. It was specifically written to keep the Black Panthers from patroling their neighborhoods with loaded firearms.

It was signed into law by Ronald Reagan.

[–] tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I was actually surprised to see a lot of comments on r/conservative talking about how the stuff the feds are saying about the second amendment is wrong and unconstitutional, and a good number saying that the killing wasn't necessary, they'll ultimately support Trump and ICE over any kind of progressive though but it was interesting. Even the NRA posted about how Pretti was a legal gun owner and there should be an investigation before people jump to conclusions.

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 9 points 1 week ago

This. Don't fall into the team based bullshit, this level of jackbootery should piss off everyone. If not for the red/blue bullshit I am sure that the vast majority of americans would rally together to counter the government overreach but instead everyone is doing the Two Minutes Hate.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 7 points 1 week ago (6 children)

When the order to seize the guns comes, it will come from the right, and not the left. Those with money can have guns, those without, can't, no matter what party they belong to.

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[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 46 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I hate that fucking smug face, where is a Lugi when one is needed.

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[–] saimen@feddit.org 41 points 1 week ago (1 children)

“When Fascism came into power, most people were unprepared, both theoretically and practically. They were unable to believe that man could exhibit such propensities for evil, such lust for power, such disregard for the rights of the weak, or such yearning for submission. Only a few had been aware of the rumbling of the volcano preceding the outbreak.”

– Erich Fromm, Escape from Freedom

[–] TotallynotJessica@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We STILL haven't even seen the worst of it. People consistently lacked the willingness to recognize that it could happen here, even when the threat was imminent. They don't want to think unhappy thoughts, don't want to think their world is crumbling, don't want to acknowledge that things will never go back to how they were. It's incredibly frustrating how much people delude themselves so they don't need to stare into the void.

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[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 33 points 1 week ago (4 children)

I didn't realize constitutionally-enshrined rights were something a single appointed official could wave away simply by saying they "don't count."

And even if the victim had broken a law (say, if he didn't have a permit (which he did)), then the legal recourse isn't a summary execution. He was disarmed, he was no longer a threat, and even if he had been carrying illegally (which he wasn't), the law says that he be arrested and granted due process in a court of law.

These federal agents violated due process and the rule of law, and the victim didn't even break any laws.

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[–] Soulphite@reddthat.com 31 points 1 week ago

ICE agents carry weapons and citizens fear for their lives... so by their standards....

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 29 points 1 week ago (7 children)
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[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 28 points 1 week ago

"Rights aren't rights if they can be taken away. They're privileges. That's all we've ever had in this country: A bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news, even badly you know that the list gets shorter and shorter" - George Carlin

[–] cheesybuddha@lemmy.world 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The NRA and right wing gun culture has convinced a generation that the 2A is about your right to own a gun.

The 2A is explicitly about your right to organize members of your community in order to defend your community, the fact that you need weapons for that means that you must also have the right to own weapons.

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Cool. Do I get to decide which rights apply to Bovino and his bullshit army now? What he's doing doesn't sound much like "...support[ing] and defend[ing] the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic..." or "...bear[ing] true faith and allegiance to the same..." so his actions ought to have consequences too.

Before the reply: No, I will not elaborate, fed.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (5 children)

This administration is playing with fire by trying to blame this on the gun that the man was legally carrying and licensed to own.

The 2A people in MAGA are not happy, there's a little civil war brewing in r/conservative between the bots and the 2A supporters.

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[–] neuromorph@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I am a lifelong supporter of the 2nd Amendment, but not a single issue voter. So no one can really place me politically.

What bothers me most is fellow gun enthusiasts (cough republican gun nuts)... always say its a "God given right".....

these events are going to be a brain melting contraction to their beliefs that the GOP supports them and that the 2A is immutable.

The GOP did a great job of convincing the feeble minded that they are their supporters and guns are their greatest political topic to rally behind... Now trump is having a come to jesus moment for the party, as his DHS, FBI, and others in his administration are saying they will kill you if you have guns around them

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[–] hateisreality@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

You fucking Nazis are not granting us our rights....you work for us fuck head

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The Right is coming for your guns.

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[–] itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago (1 children)

2A nuts are showing themselves as the hypocrites the rest of us already knew they were.

[–] nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Actually... Bovino is sending out a dog whistle to the real 2A nuts

image

Bovino gonna get hisself Kirk'ed

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[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

Man, I wonder if the second amendment set is finally realizing the right has always wanted your guns more than the left.

Or did we forget "take the guns first"?

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 1 week ago

In that case, nazi fucks also have no rights.

[–] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago

rights are a convenient fiction from the enlightenment era, when the Europeans were trying to atomize and analyze freedom.

you're free to carry a weapon.

[–] atropa@piefed.social 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Remember what happend to Charlie Kirk

[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

The right had him killed hoping that would be the catalyst.

[–] DarkFuture@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Does anyone else not give a flying fuck what traitors say?

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