Kyle Rittenhouse has urged gun owners to “carry everywhere” in the wake of criticism from the Trump administration over the presence of a gun in the death of Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of murdering two people during a protest against police violence when he was just 17, shared his thoughts after Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, was shot dead Saturday by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis. Pretti, who was reportedly carrying a gun, was also reportedly legally permitted to do so.
“Carry everywhere,” the 23-year-old wrote on X. “It is your right,” he continued, adding the hashtag #ShallNotBeInfringed.
Carry everywhere.
It is your right.#ShallNotBeInfringed— Kyle Rittenhouse 🇺🇸 (@rittenhouse2a) January 26, 2026
In a reply to another user, Rittenhouse denied that his post was a response to the killing of Pretti in Minneapolis. “I wasn’t aware of ever making any comments on Pretti’s death,” Rittenhouse wrote before continuing to argue with another user who attempted to claim that Pretti was in violation of Minnesota law at the time of his death.
In another post, Rittenhouse laid the blame for “this entire mess” at former President Joe Biden’s feet, writing, “Communists are gay. And anti-2A people are gay. Biden’s failed open borders policies created this ENTIRE mess.”
Rittenhouse also shared a meme that drew links between his own case and that of Pretti’s, writing, “The hypocrisy of the Left is never ending. But glad they’re all about the Second Amendment now.”
The hypocrisy of the Left is never ending.
But glad they’re all about the Second Amendment now. pic.twitter.com/xX54Gx1fNw— Kyle Rittenhouse 🇺🇸 (@rittenhouse2a) January 26, 2026
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem initially sought to frame Pretti—who had a concealed carry permit and was lawfully carrying a gun at the time of his death but did not wield it during his interaction with federal law enforcement—as a “a domestic terrorist who tried to assassinate law enforcement,” before later walking back that characterization.
“I have not heard the president characterize Mr Pretti in that way,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday. “However, I have heard the president say he wants to let the facts and the investigation lead itself.”
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo in a Sunday interview, “No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines. That is not a peaceful protest, and you do not get to touch law enforcement.”
Trump himself posted an image of Pretti’s alleged gun after the killing, writing, “What is that all about?”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on Rittenhouse’s posts.
Texas Gun Rights, the state affiliate for the National Association for Gun Rights of which Rittenhouse was named outreach director in June 2024, shared a statement condemning the Trump administration’s attempts to rationalize Pretti’s murder by highlighting the gun he was carrying.
“Making blatant, anti-2A statements is just as ret—ed as anything the Left is doing — and sets an extremely dangerous precedent,” the group posted on X. “Law abiding gun owners are NOT the enemy. Making anti-2A statements — for the sake of political expediency — makes YOU the enemy. Don’t make your allies the enemy.”
The National Rifle Association also responded to MAGA attempts to rationalize the shooting, writing on X in response to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, “This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.”
“Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens.” Essayli had written, “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you. Don’t do it!”
This sentiment from the First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California is dangerous and wrong.
Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens. https://t.co/9fMz3CL29o— NRA (@NRA) January 25, 2026
Rittenhouse became a folk hero for many far-right conservatives when, at the age of 17, he fired an AR-15 into a crowd at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, organized in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, killing two men and injuring a third. Having successfully argued that he was acting in self-defense, Rittenhouse was acquitted the following year.
In 2021, then-former President Donald Trump hosted Rittenhouse at his Mar-a-Lago resort following the acquittal. “He’s a really good young guy,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity at the time.
“That was prosecutorial misconduct,” Trump said of Rittenhouse’s trial. “He should have not have had to suffer through a trial for that. He was going to be dead.”
During the 2024 presidential election, Rittenhouse had initially stated he would not be voting for Trump, explaining that Trump’s advisers had made him “bad on the Second Amendment” and he would be writing in libertarian and former presidential hopeful Ron Paul instead.
“If you cannot be completely un-compromisable on the Second Amendment, I will not vote for you,” he wrote on X. “We need champions for the Second Amendment or our rights would be eaten away and eroded each day.”
Just hours later, Rittenhouse walked back his earlier statement, informing his supporters that following conversations with members of Trump’s team, he was now confident that Trump “will be the strong ally gun owners need to defend our Second Amendment rights,” calling his previous comments “ill-informed and unproductive.”
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