Minnesota anti-ICE protester Alex Pretti was carrying a popular handgun that some experts say has a reputation for firing unintentionally, leading a few firearms specialists to suggest that the weapon might have gone off accidentally after a Border Patrol agent took it from him, which then prompted another agent to shoot and kill him on Saturday.
Pretti, 37, an ICU nurse who was upset about Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants in Minnesota, was carrying a loaded Sig Sauer P320 9mm pistol when he is said to have tried to stop federal agents from detaining a woman on the street. Police said he had a permit to legally carry a gun.
Possible Reason
Video from the scene shows a federal agent shouting "gun" and snatching the weapon from Pretti. As the agent walks away holding it, another agent abruptly gets up and fires several shots, killing the Minnesota nurse.
Rob Dobar, a lawyer with the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said he thinks that after an agent took Pretti's firearm, it may have accidentally fired, and that this unintended shot could have prompted the other agent to start shooting.
"I believe it's highly likely the first shot was a negligent discharge from the agent in the grey jacket after he removed the Sig P320 from Pretti's holster while exiting the scene," Dobar said on X.
The P320 is a model that many private gun owners and U.S. law enforcement officers, including ICE, commonly carry, but it has been linked to over 100 claims that it can fire without a trigger being pulled.
Authorities released a photo of Pretti's loaded handgun after the shooting, showing that the magazine was full.
The firearm looked like a premium custom version called the P320 AXG Combat, which comes with three 21-round magazines and typically sells for about $1,100–$1,300.
President Trump posted a photo of the firearm on his Truth Social account after the shooting and questioned why Pretti had gone to the protest with a loaded weapon. He also suggested that Democratic leaders like Minnesota's governor and the Minneapolis mayor had told local police not to come to the scene, implying this may have left federal agents without backup.
"This is the gunman's gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go – What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren't they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off?" the President wrote.
"It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do!" Trump added.
DHS Blaming Pretti
Even though Minneapolis police said Pretti had a legal permit to carry a gun, the Department of Homeland Security has said in the past that it is illegal for protesters or bystanders to bring firearms to demonstrations.
In November 2021, a jury in Philadelphia awarded $11 million to U.S. Army veteran George Abrahams after his holstered gun discharged as he was walking down stairs, leaving him with permanent injuries to his leg.
"We've been asking Sig for over three years now to recall this gun, to fix it, and frankly to use the same type of safeties that other manufacturers are using that Sig Sauer is not," the plaintiff's lawyer, Robert W. Zimmerman, said at the time of the verdict.
Sig Sauer, the New Hampshire-based gun maker, has stood by the P320, calling it one of the most thoroughly tested, reliable, and successful handguns in recent years.
In April 2025, Sig Sauer executive Bobby Cox pushed for and won support in the New Hampshire State House for a law that protects the company from liability lawsuits related to the P320. The bill was signed into law by Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte in May 2025, despite opposition from some Democrats who argued the company should have to defend its claims in court.
Sig said the problem has been resolved and insisted that unintended firings are extremely uncommon given how many of the pistols have been made. In 2017, the company launched a "Voluntary Upgrade Program" that let owners swap their firearms for updated versions meant to address safety worries, including so-called drop-firing, when a gun could go off after being dropped at a certain angle.
Later, in 2020, a consumer class-action case known as the Hartley settlement was finalized.
