Vice President JD Vance does not think he needs to apologize for labeling Alex Pretti an “assassin.'
Vice President JD Vance speaks at a rally ahead of the March for Life in Washington, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. Many pundits and Democrats have since demanded that Vance apologize to the family of Pretti for his comments following his death.
But in a shocking interview withHe argued, without evidence, that Pretti showed up to the protest in Minneapolis with “ill intent” before being fatally shot. Vance also did not say whether the officers responsible for fatally shooting Pretti should face criminal prosecution. “You asked me to engage in a hypothetical. I’m not going to prejudge these guys. I think that everybody is deserved the presumption of innocence in the American system of justice. That’s how it’s going to work. They’re going to investigate,” Vance said. “Let’s do the investigation. Let’s figure out, did these officers have a reasonable fear of Alex Pretti given what happened? Did they engage in lawful conduct or unlawful conduct? Let’s let the investigation determine those things,” he added.into the killing of Pretti last week. Videos of the incident widely circulated online, which prompted criticism of the actions taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Videos showed that Pretti did not appear to brandish his weapon during the confrontation with officers. The footage showed that Border Patrol officers disarmed Pretti as they wrestled him to the ground before an officer began firing shots into his back. Vance reiterated that he would not commit to apologizing to Pretti’s family even if the investigation found that Pretti’s civil rights were violated during the deadly encounter. “If something is determined that the guy who shot Alex Pretti did something bad, then a lot of consequences are going to flow from that. We’ll let that happen. But again, I don’t think it’s smart to prejudge the investigation. I don’t think it’s fair to those ICE officers. I think we should let the investigation actually figure out what happened,” he said.
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