LA’s top prosecutor is facing intense criticism for his response to the Minneapolis shooting
Los Angeles Attorney General Bill Essayli faced bitter criticism from gun rights groups, including the NRA, after he wrote in X on Saturday about the shooting death of a US citizen in Minneapolis by immigration police.
Essayli, first assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote: “If you go to law enforcement with a gun, there’s a good chance they’ll be legally justified in shooting you.”
Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, an intensive care unit nurse at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, is believed to be a “legal gun owner with a permit to carry it,” according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara.
In response to Essayli’s tweet, the NRA wrote on X: “This opinion from the First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.”
The post continued: “Responsible public voices should await a full investigation, not generalize and demonize law-abiding citizens.”
After receiving massive backlash, Essayli accused another gun rights group of “adding words to misrepresent my statement.”
“I never said it was legal to shoot law abiding concealed carriers,” he wrote on X. “My comment is in reference to the protesters who approached the law enforcement officers with guns and refused to disarm…
“My advice is this: If you value your life, don’t approach law enforcement armed. If they reasonably perceive a threat and you fail to disarm immediately, they are legally allowed to use deadly force.”
A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in LA referred The Times to Essayli’s post on X clarifying what he originally said. He declined to comment further.
Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t mince words, tweeting, “Wow. Even the NRA thinks Trump’s DOJ chief in California went too far saying federal agents had a ‘legal right’ to kill Alex Pretti.”
Earlier, a second group lobbying for the amendment, Gun Owners of America, also criticized Essayli.
“We condemn @USAttyEssayli’s misguided comments. Federal agents are ‘very unlikely’ to be ‘legally justified’ in ‘shooting’ concealed carry license holders who arrive legally carrying a handgun,” the group wrote on X. “The Second Amendment protects the right of the American people to bear arms while protesting—a right that the federal government should not violate.”
Essayli’s post received a public note – crowd-sourced fact-checking – noting that “the US Constitution (specifically the 2nd, 4th, and 14th amendments) prohibits officers from shooting citizens simply because they possess a weapon “that is not an imminent threat.”
The shooting drew dozens of protesters to a city that had seen widespread protests following the fatal shooting of ICE officer Renee Nicole Good, 37, weeks ago.
Essayli, a former Riverside County assemblyman, has been named the county’s interim chief prosecutor by US Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi last April.
Since taking office, he has been actively pursuing President Trump’s agenda, championing immigration enforcement in Southern California, often using the president’s name in press conferences.
