Fact Check: Is Trump’s ‘only criminals carry guns’ post after Alex Pretti shooting real?
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Amid the massive protests following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by a federal officer during an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, a post attributed to President Donald Trump has been circulating online. The post has sparked debate about whether Trump really made such a statement. Let us examine the post and fact-check the claim.
Claim: Donald Trump posted about Alex Pretti's death
A screenshot showing a Truth Social post made by Trump has been going viral following the tragic death of the Veterans Affairs ICE nurse, Alex Pretti. The post appears to be a justification for the killing.
The alleged post read, “HE HAD A GUN, ONLY CRIMINALS CARRY GUNS ON OUR STREETS, WE NEED LAW AND ORDER. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump.”
The screenshot has been shared on various social media platforms, including X, Facebook, and Threads. The screenshot on these platforms even has the same number of likes, shares, and comments.
Fact Check: The screenshot is fake
The screenshot is fake, as there is no evidence that Trump wrote such a post, and everything indicates it was fabricated.
A Google search generated no relevant results, suggesting that Trump actually made such a post.
If it were true, credible news media outlets would have widely reported about it.
If the post was real, users would likely have shared multiple screenshots of it, with varying numbers of replies, shares, and likes.
A search on Trump’s official Truth Social handle also did not produce any results leading to the alleged post.
However, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Trump did criticize Pretti during an interview, saying, "I don't like it when somebody goes into a protest, and he's got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn't play good either."
Massive outrage after Alex Pretti's death
The death of Pretti set off protests and renewed anger in a city already unsettled by a similar deadly shooting weeks earlier. The incident occurred amid heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Minneapolis following the shooting, demanding accountability and calling for the withdrawal of federal agents from the city. Demonstrators cited both the killing and broader concerns over federal enforcement tactics.
