Gun rights advocates in Maine and elsewhere are pushing back on the Trump administration’s rhetoric around a federal agent’s killing of a man in Minneapolis who was protesting immigration enforcement while carrying a permitted gun.
While prominent groups, such as Gun Owners of Maine and the National Rifle Association, were careful not to comment specifically on the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Maine and Minnesota, they spoke out against federal officials for suggesting it is dangerous for gun owners to protest while legally possessing firearms. The victim in Saturday’s shooting, Alex Pretti, had a concealed-carry license. (Maine does not require a license to carry firearms).
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security branded Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” and other Trump administration officials argued protesters who carry guns are seeking confrontations.
Gun Owners of Maine President Laura Whitcomb stressed in a Monday morning interview that her group is not wading into the immigration enforcement debate and that she still wants to see all the facts emerge from Pretti’s death.
But alluding to the comments from Trump administration officials, Whitcomb said “to say you can’t have a firearm at a protest in a blanket way is false.”
Criticism, whether subtle or overt, is notably coming from groups often aligned with Trump, especially on Second Amendment issues. It also hints at the idea that some Republicans are growing uneasy with the president’s aggressive deportation campaign that has zeroed in on Minnesota for weeks.
Since last week, similar efforts have ramped up in Maine, where ICE agents have detained more than 200 people, including some who have legal status and no criminal records.
Less than three weeks ago, a federal agent shot and killed a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, Renee Good, while she was driving on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis. And on Saturday, a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Pretti, also 37, a Department of Veterans Affairs nurse who was protesting ongoing ICE actions in Minnesota’s largest city.
Videos have contradicted claims by federal officials and show Pretti holding a cellphone before numerous agents push him to the ground. One officer hits Pretti and another is seen reaching into Pretti’s waistband. About a second later, that officer emerges holding a weapon and one shot rings out, followed by at least nine more shots, according to videos of the incident.
The Trump administration later posted a photo of a handgun with two magazines recovered from the scene and swiftly called Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” a term federal officials also used to describe Good after her death. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was among the federal officials who argued that “peaceful protesters” do not carry firearms with them, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Southern California posted on social media, “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.”
The NRA, the nation’s biggest and most influential gun rights group, called Essayli’s comments “dangerous and wrong.”
“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” the organization said in a social media post Saturday.
Whitcomb, whose group has lobbied against and sued to block Democratic-backed gun control legislation in Augusta, dinged gun control proponents for “all of a sudden saying (Pretti) should be able to have a gun,” and she also said she “wouldn’t advise anyone to make the presence of their concealed firearm known in a highly volatile situation.” But she returned to the critique of federal officials.
“Inherently, it is not against the law to protest with a firearm,” Whitcomb said.
Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine Executive Director David Trahan declined to comment Monday. State Auditor Matt Dunlap, a former Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine leader and Old Town Democrat who is running to represent Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, said the district that has backed Trump in each of his elections has many legal gun owners who “are appalled by the rationale this administration is putting forward.”
“I’m a lifelong sportsman and a gun owner. Alex Pretti was a legal gun owner as well,” Dunlap said. “The administration is now arguing that lawful gun ownership can somehow justify killing someone. That is unconstitutional. It is dangerous.”
The Maine Gun Safety Coalition, which has advocated for gun control legislation, issued a statement from its executive director, Nacole Palmer, saying it supports and partners with Maine law enforcement.
“Let us also be clear that what is happening in the streets of Minneapolis is not law enforcement,” Palmer said. “It is poorly trained and reckless immigration agents terrorizing American communities.”
While residents in the progressive centers of Portland and Lewiston have largely opposed and protested against the ongoing ICE operation, Trump’s immigration actions still have support among grassroots conservatives in Maine, though a host of congressional Republicans have called for a deeper probe into Pretti’s killing.
House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, R-Winter Harbor, blamed Democratic officials for “winding people up” about ICE activity in a Sunday video with the caption: “Stay out of the way!”
In 2020, Trump and many Republicans defended Kyle Rittenhouse after the then-teenager shot and killed two men during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over a police shooting. Rittenhouse was later acquitted after testifying he acted in self-defense.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said it officially launched “Operation Catch of the Day” last Tuesday in Maine to target what it calls 1,400 people who are the “worst of the worst” criminals and who are in the country illegally. The Trump administration has not revealed more specifics to state and local officials while focusing on Portland and Lewiston.
