WATCH: Bessent Pushes Back on Journalist Over Firearm at Protest
During an appearance on ABC News, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addressed the fatal shooting in Minneapolis yesterday.
Things got heated between Bessent and journalist Jonathan Karl over the fact that the man killed by Border Patrol, Alex Pretti, brought a gun (and two extra magazines) to the protest.
Karl argued that there is “no evidence” Pretti tried to use the gun on officers.
This prompted Bessent to respond by noting that, even if that were true, Pretti still brought a gun to a so-called ‘peaceful protest.’
“I’ve been to a protest,” Bessent explained,
“Guess what? I didn’t bring a gun, I brought a billboard.”
Watch the exchange for yourself here:
Backup here, if needed:
WATCH: Bessent Pushes Back on Journalist Over Firearm at Protest
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back during an exchange with a journalist, arguing that bringing a gun to a protest is itself significant, even if it wasn’t brandished.
Bessent contrasted it with his own experience attending protests unarmed, underscoring a sharp disagreement over what constitutes a threat in tense public demonstrations.
Bessent’s take echoes what FBI Director Kash Patel had to say about the shooting.
Watch here:
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2015445074788655478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2015445074788655478%7Ctwgr%5Eb1476735b415b5303ab15db61da33cbe95a9eb2c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwltreport.com%2F2026%2F01%2F25%2Fwatch-bessent-pushes-back-journalist-firearm-protest%2F
Whether or not it was a problem that Alex Pretti was armed at the Minneapolis protest is proving somewhat controversial online.
Some people agree with Bessent:
Bessent was spot on. Alex Pretti had pre meditated intentions to be a problem for law enforcement.
— MJ (@MJ_7626) January 25, 2026
Bessent is in a league on his own. Amazing patriots ‼️
— Herbert S. Wagner (@HerbertSWagner1) January 25, 2026
Others disagreed with Bessent, arguing that it wasn’t the fact that Alex Pretti had a gun that was the issue here. Rather, the problem was that he attacked federal agents.
Here are some other responses:
I’m sorry but I don’t agree with this take.
— Matt Crossette (@mattcrossette) January 25, 2026
bringing a gun to a situation like this, is not enough to say he had intent to do harm.
Let’s wait til all the evidence comes out.
Hopefully there is body cam footage of him going for the gun or something concrete.
He can bring a gun to a protest if he regularly carried but the problem is he got into a physical altercation with the officers. That’s 100% on him.
— Pete (@172Capt) January 25, 2026
As a side note, it’s kind of ironic how leftists are suddenly pro-Second Amendment now…
But, I have to say, even if you want to defend Pretti’s right to carry, it is notable that he had two extra magazines on him.
It’s also important to note that officials say Pretti was not carrying identification on him at the time of the shooting.
Even though Pretti owned his gun legally and had a carry permit, in the state of Minnesota, it is illegal to carry a firearm without keeping proper identification on you.
Those two little facts raise a lot of questions about Pretti’s motivations.
Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino says it appears like Pretti was planning to do something terrible that day:
Minneapolis press briefing — Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino says fatally shot armed suspect, Alex Pretti, arrived with multiple loaded magazines and no ID:
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 24, 2026
“This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” pic.twitter.com/vKr57VF9tl
And, here’s Kristi Noem also driving in that point:
What are your thoughts on all this?