Saturday Night Live recently took a brutal jab at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem over her response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti at the hands of Border Patrol agents.
On this week’s Weekend Update, co-anchor Michael Che pointed out that Kristi Noem’s claims contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s initial review of the Alex Pretti shooting incident.
“Homeland Security’s initial review of the Alex Pretti shooting does not say that he attacked officers, which contradicts Kristi Noem’s claims,” Che said. “But none of that really matters to Kristi Noem. She’ll open fire even if you’re a good book,” he said.
The “good boy” joke seemingly referenced Noem’s 2024 memoir, in which the DHS Secretary claimed that she shot her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, for being “untrainable.”
“Cricket was a wirehair pointer, about 14 months old,” she wrote in her book, per The Guardian, adding the pup had an “aggressive personality.
She also claimed that the dog behaved like “a trained assassin,” as it once attacked someone else’s chickens and misbehaved during a hunting trip.
“At that moment. I realised I had to put her down,” Noem shared. “It was not a pleasant job, but it had to be done,” she stated.
SNL ridiculed Noem amid widespread outrage over the death of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, who was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents during an immigration raid in Minneapolis this month.
“Kristi Noem will open fire even if you’re a good boy!”: Michael Che.#SNL @nbcsnl #WeekendUpdate pic.twitter.com/B2StWhyTBh
— Jose Ramon Marquez (@joseramonmarmtz) February 1, 2026
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) account shared in an X post, around 9 a.m. local time, “law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Minneapolis against an illegal alien wanted for violent assault.”
As Alex Pretti “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,” the officers “attempted to disarm” him but he “violently resisted.”
“Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers,” an officer fired “defensive shots” at Pretti, the DHS claimed. They also mentioned that while medics were called to provide immediate medical aid to Pretti, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The suspect also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. About 200 rioters arrived at the scene and began to obstruct and assault law enforcement on the scene, crowd control measures were deployed for the safety of the public and law enforcement,” the statement added.
Kristi Noem echoed similar claims following the shooting, saying Pretti “attacked” officers and was “brandishing” a gun. However, multiple videos of the altercation reviewed by The New York Times and other outlets contradict Noem’s claims. The video does not show Alex attacking the officers or using a weapon and instead featured an officer retrieving a gun from the nurse’s waistband.
Here is the clearest video that shows that Alex Pretti did not pull a gun, his legal weapon had already been taken from him before DHS agents shot him multiple times. WATCH pic.twitter.com/FCBICEVq9V
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) January 25, 2026
FBI Director Kash Patel made similar assertions regarding the shooting when asked by Fox News, saying that “You do not get to attack law enforcement officials in this country without any repercussions,” though he did not highlight specific evidence showing that Pretti attacked officers.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara later confirmed that Pretti had a legal permit to carry a concealed handgun, but clarified, “I don’t have any evidence that I’ve seen that suggests the weapon was brandished.”
Following Alex Pretti’s passing, his parents released a statement claiming they are “heartbroken but also very angry.” “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact,” the statement added.
They also accused the Trump administration of spreading “sickening lies” about their son, calling them “reprehensible” and “disgusting.”
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering, cowardly ICE thugs,” they added, highlighting that he was instead “holding his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand was raised above his head.”
