Marjorie Taylor Greene seeks bipartisan rethink on Minneapolis ICE shooting, urges dropping blinders

ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly urged President Trump’s conservative base to rethink their assumptions after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minnesota by a federal immigration agent.

Reacting to the incident and the political response surrounding it, Greene called for objectivity and warned against partisan escalation. Her comments focused on constitutional rights, law enforcement conduct, and growing political division.

Marjorie Taylor Greene questions use of force and defends constitutional rights

In a post shared on X, Greene reiterated her strong support for law enforcement and immigration enforcement while also defending the constitutional right to legally carry firearms.

She expressed skepticism over claims that the shooting of Pretti was justified solely because he was carrying a gun. Greene emphasized that lawful possession of a firearm does not automatically constitute a threat to officers.

Greene wrote, “I unapologetically believe in border security and deporting criminal illegal aliens and I support law enforcement. However, I also unapologetically support the 2nd Amendment.” She added, “Legally carrying a firearm is not the same support the 2nd amendment.” She added, “Legally carrying a firearm is not the same as brandishing a firearm.”

Greene also stressed the importance of other constitutional protections, stating her support for "American’s 1st" and Fourth Amendment rights. “There is nothing wrong with legally peacefully protesting and videoing,” she wrote.

Video footage circulating online reportedly shows Pretti recording ICE officers with his phone before the situation escalated and he was fatally shot. The Trump administration defended the shooting, stating that the federal agent fired “defensive shots” after Pretti was found to be armed. Federal authorities recovered a gun from Pretti following the incident.

Critics, however, have accused the agent of using excessive force, citing the video footage as evidence that Pretti was filming rather than threatening officers at the time.

Marjorie Taylor Greene urges conservatives to reconsider partisan reactions

Trump weighed in on the incident through a post on Truth Social, where he shared an image of the pistol allegedly recovered from Pretti. “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!) and ready to go,” Trump wrote.

He further questioned local police, asking, “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE officers? The Mayor and Governor called them off?” Trump added that ICE officers were forced to protect themselves, calling it “Not an easy thing to do!”

Greene responded by urging Trump supporters to imagine how they would react if a similar situation occurred under the former president Joe Biden's administration. She referenced the federal response to January 6 rioters, which she described as overly aggressive.

“MAGA, consider it like this,” Greene wrote, recalling outrage over what she called Biden’s FBI tracking down and arresting peaceful January 6 participants.

She then laid out a hypothetical scenario in which a conservative supporter or journalist was filming a law enforcement operation, only to be forcefully subdued and killed by federal agents. “What would have been our reaction?” she asked.

Concluding her remarks, Greene called on both sides of the political divide to evaluate the incident without partisan bias. “Both sides need to take off their political blinders,” she said. She warned that Americans are being “incited into civil war,” stressing that such division fails to address real problems and results in tragic loss of life.