Noem has called victims of ICE shootings domestic terrorists. Do they fit the definition?
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is one of many Trump administration officials who have called the victims of recent officer-involved shootings in Minnesota domestic terrorists, but the jury is still out on whether Renee Good and Alex Pretti fit that definition.
The two high-profile shootings have come amid heightened tensions between immigration enforcement and local protesters, whose actions often provoke federal officers into taking lethal action. Whether their actions were justified remains up for debate pending investigations into the incidents, but the Trump administration is doubling down on its immigration operation in the blue state.
After being asked if President Donald Trump agrees with Noem’s description of 37-year-old Pretti, killed by Border Patrol agents Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I have not heard the President characterize Mr. Pretti in that way.”
Joining Noem in labeling Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” is White House official Stephen Miller, who caught flak from lawmakers for ascribing malicious intent to Pretti’s actions prior to his death.
Alex Pretti was an American hero, and Stephen Miller is a domestic terrorist.
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 26, 2026
Pretti, an ICU nurse, carried a registered handgun during the incident and “violently resisted” law enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A Border Patrol agent, who allegedly feared for his own life and the lives of his fellow officers, then fatally shot the man.
The DHS chief is using the anti-government violent extremist definition for domestic terrorism, according to University of New Haven criminal justice professor Kenneth Gray.
“This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence in furtherance of ideological agendas, derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy,” the department says in a 2020 document on the definition of anti-government violent extremism, which qualifies as one of the many types of domestic terrorism.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche bluntly disagreed with Noem and Miller, refusing to make a judgment about whether Pretti was a domestic terrorist so as not to “prejudice the fact.”
“I don’t think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday …
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is one of many Trump administration officials who have called the victims of recent officer-involved shootings in Minnesota domestic terrorists, but the jury is still out on whether Renee Good and Alex Pretti fit that definition.
The two high-profile shootings have come amid heightened tensions between immigration enforcement and local protesters, whose actions often provoke federal officers into taking lethal action. Whether their actions were justified remains up for debate pending investigations into the incidents, but the Trump administration is doubling down on its immigration operation in the blue state.
After being asked if President Donald Trump agrees with Noem’s description of 37-year-old Pretti, killed by Border Patrol agents Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I have not heard the President characterize Mr. Pretti in that way.”
Joining Noem in labeling Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” is White House official Stephen Miller, who caught flak from lawmakers for ascribing malicious intent to Pretti’s actions prior to his death.
Alex Pretti was an American hero, and Stephen Miller is a domestic terrorist.
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 26, 2026
Pretti, an ICU nurse, carried a registered handgun during the incident and “violently resisted” law enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A Border Patrol agent, who allegedly feared for his own life and the lives of his fellow officers, then fatally shot the man.
The DHS chief is using the anti-government violent extremist definition for domestic terrorism, according to University of New Haven criminal justice professor Kenneth Gray.
“This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence in furtherance of ideological agendas, derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy,” the department says in a 2020 document on the definition of anti-government violent extremism, which qualifies as one of the many types of domestic terrorism.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche bluntly disagreed with Noem and Miller, refusing to make a judgment about whether Pretti was a domestic terrorist so as not to “prejudice the fact.”
“I don’t think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday …
Noem has called victims of ICE shootings domestic terrorists. Do they fit the definition?
This isn't complicated—it's willpower.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is one of many Trump administration officials who have called the victims of recent officer-involved shootings in Minnesota domestic terrorists, but the jury is still out on whether Renee Good and Alex Pretti fit that definition.
The two high-profile shootings have come amid heightened tensions between immigration enforcement and local protesters, whose actions often provoke federal officers into taking lethal action. Whether their actions were justified remains up for debate pending investigations into the incidents, but the Trump administration is doubling down on its immigration operation in the blue state.
After being asked if President Donald Trump agrees with Noem’s description of 37-year-old Pretti, killed by Border Patrol agents Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “I have not heard the President characterize Mr. Pretti in that way.”
Joining Noem in labeling Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists” is White House official Stephen Miller, who caught flak from lawmakers for ascribing malicious intent to Pretti’s actions prior to his death.
Alex Pretti was an American hero, and Stephen Miller is a domestic terrorist.
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 26, 2026
Pretti, an ICU nurse, carried a registered handgun during the incident and “violently resisted” law enforcement, according to the Department of Homeland Security. A Border Patrol agent, who allegedly feared for his own life and the lives of his fellow officers, then fatally shot the man.
The DHS chief is using the anti-government violent extremist definition for domestic terrorism, according to University of New Haven criminal justice professor Kenneth Gray.
“This threat encompasses the potentially unlawful use or threat of force or violence in furtherance of ideological agendas, derived from anti-government or anti-authority sentiment, including opposition to perceived economic, social, or racial hierarchies, or perceived government overreach, negligence, or illegitimacy,” the department says in a 2020 document on the definition of anti-government violent extremism, which qualifies as one of the many types of domestic terrorism.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche bluntly disagreed with Noem and Miller, refusing to make a judgment about whether Pretti was a domestic terrorist so as not to “prejudice the fact.”
“I don’t think anybody thinks that they were comparing what happened on Saturday …
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