Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is once again at the center of a constitutional storm — this time, over the death of an armed civilian during a federal immigration enforcement operation. The controversy, however, predates the shooting.
Just last year, Ellison joined 16 other Democratic attorneys general in arguing that Americans do not have a Second Amendment right to carry firearms at political protests.
The January 2024 amicus brief, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asserted that the presence of firearms at demonstrations increases the risk of violence and could suppress free speech by intimidating participants.
The coalition urged the court to uphold a state’s right to ban guns at political gatherings — a legal stance that has now drawn fresh scrutiny in the aftermath of a high-profile federal shooting in Minneapolis.
The AGs of DC, IL, CT, DE, HI, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, NJ, NY, OR, PA, RI, VT, and WA argued in 2024 that there's no 2A right to carry guns at "events involving political speech, like political rallies and protests" because they are "often targets of violence" https://t.co/471u7bqPEi pic.twitter.com/bN5KHgMf4e
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) January 25, 2026
That shooting claimed the life of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who held a valid permit to carry and had no criminal record. According to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, there is no indication Pretti’s firearm was illegally possessed. Whether or not he was brandishing it threateningly at the time of the incident remains in dispute — and under investigation.
Critics argue that Ellison’s prior legal position on firearms undermines Minnesotans’ rights to lawfully carry, even while exercising their First Amendment freedoms. The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus swiftly condemned the killing, calling it “deeply concerning” and affirming that the right to bear arms does not disappear in public protest settings.
Rob Doar of the Minnesota Gun Owners Law Center was even more pointed: “You don’t have to pick between which rights you exercise,” he said, noting that video evidence suggests Pretti may have been disarmed before shots were fired.
In response, Ellison has pivoted from his legal arguments about protest gun bans to a sharp critique of federal law enforcement. He filed a lawsuit demanding the preservation of all evidence in the shooting and denounced the federal operation as an “illegal and unconstitutional occupation.”