Watch: Why the ICE Shooting Was Justified
There’s a short way to understand the ICE shooting of Alex Pretti. Watch the video. Listen to the analysis. It lines up with the law.
Andrew Branca is an attorney and a recognized expert in self-defense law. He walks through the moments that led to the shooting. He uses plain language. No fluff. Just law and facts.
Here are the key lines from Branca’s breakdown, transcribed:
“The moment he makes contact with that officer, he’s just committed a federal felony good for eight years in a federal penitentiary.”
“That’s why they were seeking to make his arrest because they saw him commit a forcible felony against a fellow officer.”
“Then he’s noncompliant with arrest. He’s fighting them. Then they discover he has a gun…”
“They take that gun. There are cries of ‘gun, gun, gun.’ The officers called to each other. He’s still noncompliant. They hear a gunshot go off. And Alex Pretty’s right hand comes from his waistline with a black object in his hand.”
“That combination of facts is going to get you shot 999 times out of a thousand by law enforcement, and justifiably so.”
“They’re making all these perceptions, all these decisions in a violent, chaotic melee caused by Alex Pretti.”
“They have to make all these decisions in a split second because that’s how quickly someone can use a weapon against you, and those decisions.”
“They don’t have to be correct. The law of self-defense does not require us to make perfect decisions…”
Read those lines again. They’re blunt and to the point. Branca lays out a chain of events. He shows how each step raises the risk to agents on scene.
Officers saw a felony. They moved to arrest. Resistance followed. A gun was in play. There were shouts of “gun.” A sudden movement from the suspect’s waistline followed a gunshot. Those facts, Branca says, justify the response.
This isn’t a debate about motives. It’s a legal framing of what happened in real time. Law enforcement makes split-second calls when lives are on the line. The law allows reasonable force under those conditions.
Watch the full clip to see the close-up footage and hear Branca’s full reasoning. If you want to argue policy, do it elsewhere. If you want to understand why agents acted the way they did, this breakdown helps.
NEW: Attorney and self-defense expert Andrew Branca says the shooting of Alex Pretti was justified, lays out reasons why.
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2016339025951653950
NEW: Attorney and self-defense expert Andrew Branca says the shooting of Alex Pretti was justified, lays out reasons why.
– "The moment he makes contact with that officer, he's just committed a federal felony good for eight years in a federal penitentiary."
– "That's why they… pic.twitter.com/NejNcknfNQ
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 28, 2026