Megyn Kelly has sparked widespread backlash after saying she does not feel sorry for Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen who was shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis over the weekend.According to reporting cited by the Associated Press and local Minnesota outlets, Pretti, an ICU nurse, was shot by Border Patrol officers on Saturday after being pinned to the ground. Authorities have said he was legally carrying a firearm but did not draw the weapon.Despite that, the Department of Homeland Security claimed Pretti “wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”Kelly initially dismissed the incident over the weekend before doubling down during Monday’s episode of her SiriusXM podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show.“I know I’m supposed to feel sorry for Alex Pretti, but I don’t. Do you know why I wasn’t shot by Border Patrol this weekend? Because I kept my a** inside and out of their operations,” Kelly said on the show.She went on to argue that protests and confrontations with law enforcement inevitably escalate situations. “It’s very simple. If I felt strongly enough about something the government was doing, I would go out and protest,” Kelly said. “I would do it peacefully, on the sidewalk, without interfering — not with a whistle, not with shouting, not with my body, not in any other way.”“I would make my objections known without interfering, because interfering is where you go south,” she added.Kelly further warned that physical interaction with law enforcement carries legal consequences. “Laying hands on a police officer, a Border Patrol officer, or an ICE officer who is trying to conduct a law enforcement operation is a felony, and you are going to get arrested,” she said.She acknowledged that resistance does not justify lethal force but argued it increases risk. “That doesn’t give them the ‘right to shoot you,’ but it amps up the situation and the danger such that they may reasonably fear for their safety,” Kelly said.“He was not there to help,” she added.“He was not there to assist law enforcement or make things easier for them. He was there with a loaded gun, looking to cause trouble for Border Patrol agents — and that trouble came back on him.”Her remarks drew sharp criticism across the political spectrum. Former Republican National Committee chairman and current MSNBC host Michael Steele responded by quoting scripture. “You chose to be cruel instead of compassionate; to be evil in spirit instead of empathetic; to ignore what God asks us to do— ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’” Steele wrote, citing Matthew 22:39. “Perhaps Megyn you don’t feel anything for Alex because you don’t feel anything for yourself.”MeidasTouch co-founder Brett Meiselas also invoked religion in his criticism, saying, “You can tell these people aren’t actually religious because if they were they’d actually be worried about going to hell.” Meiselas was referring to Kelly, a lifelong Catholic who said in 2024 that she was experiencing a “crisis of faith.”Democratic commentator Harry Sisson contrasted Kelly’s reaction to how she might respond in other circumstances. “If someone said they don’t feel sorry for Charlie Kirk she would lose it but if it’s an ICU nurse who did nothing wrong then it’s OK, according to Megyn. Nice!” he wrote.The killing of Pretti remains under investigation, with civil rights groups and lawmakers calling for greater transparency around the use of force by federal agents.
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