A television host theatrically gripped his phone like a pistol on live television to justify why federal agents pumped ten rounds into a man holding nothing but a smartphone.
Story Snapshot
- Newsmax host demonstrated phone-as-gun theory defending ICE agents who fatally shot Alex Pretti during Minneapolis immigration raid
- Multiple video analyses confirm Pretti held only a phone during the confrontation, contradicting DHS claims he brandished a firearm
- Federal agents fired at least ten shots in five seconds at the VA nurse after pepper-spraying him for intervening in a scuffle
- The incident occurred during Operation Metro Surge amid nationwide protests over immigration enforcement tactics
When Media Becomes the Courtroom
The Newsmax segment crystallized a widening chasm between federal law enforcement narratives and documented reality. Greg Kelly positioned his phone sideways, mimicking a firearm grip, asking viewers whether such a silhouette might confuse agents under duress. The demonstration ignored a critical detail: frame-by-frame video analysis from Reuters, BBC, The New York Times, CNN, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal all confirmed Alex Pretti held his phone vertically while filming, not in the pistol-like configuration Kelly theatrically displayed. This wasn’t ambiguous shadow play at dusk. The shooting occurred at nine in the morning in downtown Minneapolis.
The Thirty-Seven Year Old Nurse Who Stepped Between
Alex Jeffrey Pretti worked as an ICU nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. On January 24, 2026, he stood near the intersection of 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood, directing traffic and observing as ICE agents pursued someone into a donut shop during Operation Metro Surge. When an agent pushed a civilian woman, Pretti moved to assist her, positioning himself between the agent and the woman. Agents pepper-sprayed him. Within seconds, additional agents surrounded him. Four seconds before the first shot, one agent in a gray coat approached empty-handed. Then came the scuffle.
Ten Shots in Five Seconds
Video evidence reconstructed with metadata timestamps tells a compressed, violent story. Agents pinned Pretti. His right hand held his phone, visible in multiple camera angles. Less than one second before the shooting began, an agent pulled a gun from the scuffle. Federal authorities would later claim this firearm belonged to Pretti, that he brandished it, that he intended to massacre law enforcement. Then agents fired at least ten rounds over five seconds into the pinned man. For twenty-six seconds afterward, Pretti lay motionless while agents searched for a gun and ripped his shirt rather than administering aid. Paramedics arrived five minutes later and performed CPR. Pretti died at the scene.
"Newsmax Host Holds His Phone Like a Firearm in Defense of ICE Agents Who Shot Alex Pretti: ‘Does That Look Like a Gun?’" – Mediaite #SmartNews
What an imbecile https://t.co/GFq6JPE3mA
— John&Neen (@john_bingman) January 27, 2026
The Permit That Complicated the Narrative
Pretti possessed a valid Minnesota concealed carry permit. He legally carried a firearm that morning. This fact became a pivot point for federal officials. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem accused Pretti of brandishing the weapon and attacking agents. FBI Director Kash Patel declared loaded firearms banned at protests. Yet witness affidavits filed the same day as the shooting uniformly deny Pretti ever brandished a gun during the confrontation. A physician witness noted agents counted Pretti’s bullet wounds rather than performing CPR. The Wall Street Journal’s frame analysis revealed the gun appeared in an agent’s hand pulled from the scuffle, not in Pretti’s grasp pointed at officers. Whether that firearm came from Pretti’s holster or elsewhere remains disputed, but the timing demolishes the brandishing claim that supposedly justified the fusillade.
Operation Metro Surge and the Powder Keg
The shooting occurred against the backdrop of escalating immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration. Operation Metro Surge targeted urban areas, intensifying after another ICE agent killed Renée Good, sparking nationwide protests. Minneapolis became a flashpoint. Federal agents locked donut shop doors to trap a suspect while bystanders filmed and shouted. The tension between federal enforcement priorities and local community resistance created conditions where a nurse directing traffic could become a casualty within seconds. The ACLU lawsuit against Secretary Noem already underway now incorporates sworn testimonies from that morning, adding Pretti’s death to a growing ledger of contested federal actions during immigration raids.
The Video Evidence Nobody Can Ignore
Sky News forensic analysts conducted frame-by-frame examination using multiple camera angles with metadata timestamps. Their conclusion mirrors every major outlet’s findings: Pretti held a phone, not a firearm, during the confrontation with agents. The video shows him disarmed before shots rang out, contradicting DHS assertions of an armed threat. Twenty-six seconds of post-shooting footage captures agents methodically searching and counting wounds while Pretti bleeds out, not rendering the immediate aid that might accompany a good-faith belief they’d just survived an attempted massacre. The consistency across independent analyses from outlets spanning the political spectrum makes the video record difficult to dismiss, regardless of one’s predisposition toward federal law enforcement.
The Constitutional Collision Course
Pretti’s valid carry permit exposes a fault line in how Second Amendment rights intersect with First Amendment protest activity. Conservative principles traditionally defend both lawful firearm possession and law enforcement authority. This incident forces a reckoning: Can a legally armed citizen observe and film police activity without forfeiting his right to life? Patel’s declaration banning loaded firearms at protests creates a novel restriction unsupported by statute, effectively nullifying carry permits in any area where citizens gather to petition government. For those who cherish constitutional rights beyond convenient political application, the precedent is chilling. If federal agents can kill a permitted carrier for possessing a holstered weapon he never drew while exercising his right to document public officials, then permits mean nothing and rights exist only at government sufferance.
The Newsmax phone demonstration sought to manufacture reasonable doubt where video evidence left none. Pretti’s family still seeks truth about their son’s death. Protests continue in Minneapolis. No charges have been filed against the agents. The investigation grinds forward while dueling narratives battle for supremacy, one armed with theatrical gestures, the other with timestamped video metadata and sworn affidavits from witnesses who watched a nurse die on a January morning.
Sources:
Killing of Alex Pretti – Wikipedia
Protester shares dialogue with federal agent after fatal shooting of Alex Pretti – CBS News
