Alex Pretti's junior yearbook picture at Green Bay Preble High School. (Photo courtesy: Preble High School '04-'05 Yearbook)
(WTAQ-WLUK) — The deadly shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend at the hands of U.S. Border Patrol agents has sparked questions surrounding constitutional rights.
Some people, like President Donald Trump, believe Pretti should not have brought a gun to a protest, while others said it was his Second Amendment right to be armed.
A constitutional law expert says Pretti was within his rights.
“The Second Amendment ensures a right, particularly if someone has a license to conceal the carry, to carry that weapon with them in public spaces wherever they go,” said Howard Schweber, UW-Madison professor emeritus of political science and legal studies.
Schweber said Pretti’s decision to bring a gun to the protest was not unlawful. The president of Wisconsin Firearm Owners agrees.
“As an organization that supports the Second Amendment, we do not discourage someone like Pretti from lawfully concealed carrying in any situation,” Rob Kovach said.
Many are now drawing comparisons between Pretti and Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people — two fatally — with an assault rifle at a protest in Kenosha in 2020. Kovach believes the two incidents aren’t comparable.
“The Rittenhouse situation didn’t involve law enforcement. Kyle Rittenhouse was using his firearm for self-defense,” Kovach said.
Schweber argued as far as the Second Amendment is concerned, there’s no distinction between Pretti’s and Rittenhouse’s situations. However, he believes there still are huge differences with the two incidents.
Pretti was wearing a gun. There’s no indication he had any intention of using it,” Schweber said. “Rittenhouse crossed state lines with an assault rifle, with his explicit purpose of having it ready to use, in case he decided he wanted to, and then did so.”
Rittenhouse chimed in on X Monday:
Carry everywhere. It is your right.
He also said in an earlier post:
The same people wanting to silence me are now begging me to comment.
Schweber said Pretti didn’t need to inform officers ahead of time that he had a gun, and whether or not Pretti had a permit with him doesn’t alter his constitutional right. He believes Pretti’s First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights were infringed upon.
“He has a right to engage in free speech and expression, and that right is not altered by the fact that he simultaneously exercised a Second Amendment right,” Schweber said.
Schweber said he didn’t see anything in the video that indicated Pretti committing a criminal act. Meanwhile, Kovach urged good discretion for those exercising Second Amendment rights and recommended avoiding violent situations.
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