A gun policy journalist criticized a public warning from U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli after the Department of Homeland Security announced that ICE agents fatally shot ICU nurse Alex Pretti during an operation in Minneapolis on Saturday.
Essayli, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, reposted DHS’s account of the shooting and added his own message for potential protesters. “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you,” Essayli wrote. “Don’t do it!”
Stephen Gutowski, a journalist who covers guns and gun policy, responded online, calling this statement unacceptable for a senior federal prosecutor. “This is an insane claim,” Gutowski wrote. “You’re arguing that merely being armed in public is justification for police killing you? That’s well beyond even the questionable claims DHS is making.”
The exchange unfolded as new reporting on the Minneapolis shooting complicated DHS’s initial account. DHS stated that agents were conducting a “targeted operation” and claimed that Pretti approached officers with a handgun and resisted efforts to disarm him, which led an officer to fire what the agency described as defensive shots.
Video reviewed by The Washington Post showed an agent taking a handgun from Pretti’s waistband just seconds before another agent fired a burst of shots while multiple officers held him down on the ground, according to the newspaper’s analysis. The footage also seemed to show Pretti holding a phone as officers moved in, not a gun in either hand.
This is an insane claim. You’re arguing merely being armed in public is justification for police killing you? That’s well beyond even the dubious claims DHS is making. https://t.co/rlGopN3WIX
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) January 24, 2026
In the online exchange, Gutowski argued that Essayli’s phrasing suggested a legal standard that could discourage lawful gun carrying. When another user described the issue as “risk assessment,” Gutowski replied that it was a formal message from a U.S. attorney’s account and that “the standard he articulates is nuts if you care at all about lawful carry.”
A commenter pushed back, arguing Pretti was seen on video making contact with agents while trying to help another protester avoid detention, and then resisting. Gutowski replied, “I do not think this is an accurate description of what happens in the video.” He added that, regardless of the details, “the US Attorney’s claim that simply ‘approaching’ an officer while armed is likely justification for you to be killed is completely insane.”
Essayli, a Republican who previously served in the California Assembly, was sworn in as U.S. attorney for the Central District of California after being appointed by Attorney General Pamela Bondi under a federal vacancy statute, the Justice Department stated in an April 2025 announcement.
The public dispute also involved Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who criticized the premise of Essayli’s warning. “Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this, you have no business in law enforcement or government,” Massie wrote.
Pretti, 37, was identified by family and described by Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara as a lawful gun owner with no criminal history beyond minor violations, according to published reports. The shooting, the second fatal incident involving ICE agents in Minneapolis this month, prompted renewed protests and calls for more transparency about federal enforcement operations in the city.
