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EPA<\/p>\nEPA<\/p>\n
Crowds gathered in Minneapolis despite the freezing temperatures<\/p>\n
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other US gun lobby groups in calling for a “full investigation” by the Trump administration into the killing of Alex Pretti in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
Comments from the NRA come after a border agent fatally shot Pretti – registered nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital – in Minneapolis on Saturday.<\/p>\n
State and federal officials have given starkly different accounts. The Trump administration has said Pretti carried a gun and posed a danger to officers – while no available video shows Pretti holding a gun.<\/p>\n
The NRA labelled a suggestion by a federal prosecutor that people who carry guns risk being lawfully shot by officers as “dangerous and wrong”.<\/p>\n
“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalisations and demonising law-abiding citizens,” the NRA said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The NRA – which is typically aligned with Donald Trump – was reacting to comments from First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
Bill Essayli wrote on social media: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!”<\/p>\n
In a separate social-media post, the NRA said: “As there is with any officer-involved shooting, there will be a robust and comprehensive investigation that takes place to determine if the use of force was justified. <\/p>\n
“As we await these facts and gain a clearer understanding, we urge the political voices to lower the temperature to ensure their constituents and law enforcement officers stay safe.”<\/p>\n
Essayli’s comments have drawn criticism from other gun advocacy groups, as well as politicians from across the spectrum.<\/p>\n
Gun Owners of America said in a statement: “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting – a right the federal government must not infringe upon.”<\/p>\n
Republican Thomas Massie said: “Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government.”<\/p>\n
In a follow-up social media post, Essayli accused critics of taking his comments out of context.<\/p>\n
“I never said it’s legally justified to shoot law-abiding concealed carriers,” he said on X. “My comment addressed agitators approaching law enforcement with a gun and refusing to disarm.”<\/p>\n
For the second time this month, federal agents have been involved in a fatal shooting in Minneapolis linked to a crackdown on illegal immigration by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.<\/p>\n
Bystander video footage has captured the moments before Pretti was shot on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The altercation that led to Pretti’s shooting was recorded from many points of view and federal and state officials have given conflicting accounts.<\/p>\n
Watch: Video shows moments around fatal shooting in Minneapolis<\/p>\n
The Department for Homeland Security shared an image of a gun it claimed belonged to Pretti and said he was a threat to officers. <\/p>\n
On Saturday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was asked to clarify if Pretti had brandished a gun and said agents fired what she called “defensive shots” while trying to disarm Pretti.<\/p>\n
“They responded according to their training, and took action to defend the officer’s life and those of the public around him. And, I don’t know of any peaceful protester that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.”<\/p>\n
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz branded the Trump administration’s version of events “nonsense” and “lies.”<\/p>\n
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey likened the federal operation to an invasion and accused ICE of “trying to spin this as an action of self-defence”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EPA Crowds gathered in Minneapolis despite the freezing temperatures The National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined other US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,282],"class_list":["post-264241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}