Gun expert alarmed by US Attorney's 'completely insane claim' about DHS shooting
"This is an insane claim," said a gun policy expert in response to a Trump-appointed prosecutor's comment about the most recent killing by DHS agents.
Trump appointed California Assemblyman Bill Essayli to be the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in April 2025. On Saturday, after Homeland Security announced the shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, Essayli shared the agency's description of events along with a warning to any potential protesters.
"If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you," the prosecutor wrote. "Don’t do it!"
That set off alarm bells for gun policy journalist Stephen Gutowski, who wrote, "This is an insane claim."
"You're arguing merely being armed in public is justification for police killing you?" he asked. "That's well beyond even the dubious claims DHS is making."
When a commenter told Gutowski, "It's called risk assessment," the journalist replied, "It's called a public statement from a US Attorney's account. And the standard he articulates is nuts if you care at all about lawful carry."
Another commenter pushed back, too, writing, "He is on video putting hands on the agents to help another protestor escape detainment before violently resisting being detained himself. Are we really pretending he was just standing around while carrying?"
The gun expert responded with, "I do not think this is an accurate description of what happens in the video."
"Regardless, the US Attorney's claim that simply 'approaching' an office[r] while armed is likely justification for you to be killed is completely insane," he added on Saturday.
GOP lawmaker Thomas Massie also weighed in on the U.S. Attorney's comment Sunday, writing, "Carrying a firearm is not a death sentence, it’s a Constitutionally protected God-given right, and if you don’t understand this you have no business in law enforcement or government."