American Rights Under Fire

Minneapolis. January 24, 2026. A 37-year-old registered nurse named Alex Pretti was shot and killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a federal immigration enforcement operation in the streets of south Minneapolis and it’s shaking this nation’s soul. Pretti was a U.S. citizen, an ICU nurse at the VA hospital, and someone loved in his community. He held a valid permit to carry a firearm, Minnesota police confirmed, and had no serious criminal record.

Yet federal authorities painted a very different picture claiming he was armed and “violently resisting” officers when he was killed. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem went so far as to brand him a “domestic terrorist.” That’s the same federal force now arguing that Second Amendment rights don’t apply to people protesting or observing federal operations even when you have a legal permit to carry.

The citizen’s account tells another story. Bystander video verified by multiple news outlets shows Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, before he was pepper-sprayed and tackled to the ground. One agent then appears to remove a firearm from Pretti’s waistband during the struggle, after which shots are fired killing him. That’s not a lawful use of force; that’s an execution.

This is not just another headline this is an indictment of how unaccountable federal power can become when it moves into our streets with tanks, raids, and the presumption that your rights don’t matter.

Now look at what’s happening beside this tragedy

There is a vast, monied, activist network stoking public sentiment on issues from social justice and immigrant rights to LGBTQ advocacy, Palestinian solidarity, and climate activism. They have platforms, funding, and political clout and they use them to push narratives that divide, inflame, and magnify distrust in institutions, all while insisting the system works for everyone equally. But when a Black man, a legal gun owner, and a respected nurse is executed on a city block by federal agents with no local oversight, where is that same advocacy?

Meanwhile, ICE and Border Patrol are on a hiring spree, expanding their ranks and their reach yet we are left to question who they’re recruiting, why they’re trained for crowd control over community engagement, and whether their actions match their mission. Are they protecting the homeland, or are they policing dissent?

Back here in Minneapolis, the state is suing the feds to preserve evidence because federal agents blocked local investigators from accessing the scene after Pretti’s death. That’s not transparency that’s cover-up.

National gun-rights organizations, including the NRA and others, are now calling for a full investigation not because they always agree on everything, but because this isn’t just a legal question, it’s a constitutional crossroads. The feds saying “your Second Amendment rights don’t count at protests” is dangerous and un-American.

Let’s be clear you should support lawful protest, lawful bearing of arms, and lawful oversight no matter who you are. But we also have to be honest when citizens are murdered by government agents with no accountability, that shakes the foundation of liberty.

Win or fail, freedom or jail wish me well. Because when the state tells you your rights disappear at the edge of a federal boot, that’s when the disenfranchised voter

the Black Urban Conservative in the streets and online must stand up and say

“This is America. My rights are not negotiable. My life is not expendable. And no uniform makes my blood cheaper than yours.”