Alex Pretti killing forces Rand Paul to make sense for once

A person holds a picture during a vigil for Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky admitted his eyesight is good enough to see that Immigration and Customs Enforcements agents’ fatal shooting of Alex Pretti was not justified. 

During a Thursday appearance on Newsmax, he criticized the Trump administration’s characterization of the slain intensive-care nurse as an “assassin” and a “domestic terrorist,” saying it made the situation worse.

“After seeing this, if you call this a good shooting, you aren't watching the video,” Paul said. “This was a real tragedy and a mistake. The man had been disarmed and then was shot 10 times.” 

“If we say things that are obviously not true, the situation is going to get worse,” he added.

Rand Paul: "After seeing this, if you call this a good shooting you aren't watching the video. This was a real tragedy and a mistake. The man had been disarmed and then shot 10 times ... if we say things that are obviously not true, the situation is going to get worse." pic.twitter.com/IU8FHYukr2

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 29, 2026

Paul also tried to square the circle between the administration’s brutal immigration raids and the reality of his home state’s lax gun laws, which allow adults to openly carry firearms without a license. The senator said he would tell his son it was “not a good idea” to carry at a rally, but …

“I've been to hundreds of rallies with people who are armed. Virtually every meeting I go to in Kentucky, people wear their concealed carry, they wear their open carry,” he said.

Many conservatives, like Paul, have been unable to buy the White House’s lies about Pretti’s killing. They simply can’t ignore their eyes.