Jesse Watters Baselessly Claims Alex Pretti ‘Violently’ Obstructed Agents

Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed Monday without evidence that Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti “violently” obstructed federal agents before he was shot and killed.

On Monday’s edition of The Five, Watters began, “The guy who brings a loaded firearm, concealed, into a dangerous fugitive operation is crazy. You do not bring a loaded gun and start violently and physically resisting and obstructing a manhunt, okay?”

Video taken before the shooting showed Pretti directing traffic and holding a phone to record Border Patrol agents in the area. After an officer shoved a woman to the ground, Pretti attempted to help her when he was pounced on by multiple officers and pepper-sprayed. Pretti had a lawful permit to carry a concealed weapon, and video showed officers removing a handgun from Pretti’s waistband before shooting him 10 times.

“Anybody who knows — you have a concealed permit, and some guy is confronting you is federal enforcement, you say, “Here are my hands. I have a loaded weapon on me,” and you wait for further instruction. You do not actively, physically resist,” he said, continuing:

Now, you watch the video, and it’s very, very chaotic. It may have looked like they might have disarmed this guy during the scuffle. You have whistles blowing. You can’t hear anything. You hear, “Gun, gun, gun, gun, gun!” The guy — any time a guy says, “Gun, gun, gun,” and the subject pulls his arm back, you don’t know if he’s reaching, so obviously they will be doing a big investigation. They will find out what happened and we’ll look at the body cam. But it’s not a clear-cut situation, and it’s very divisive. It’s partisan, the way they’re reacting to it.

Lone liberal voice Jessica Tarlov sought to correct the record.

“What happened to Pretti was not divisive and was not partisan,” Tarlov chided Watters. “It was clear as day, and there are video analyses — The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have done incredible reporting on this — that you can see clearly that an agent had taken his gun already…Even after the guy is shot, gets 10 bullets in him, even though his hands were up, he had his phone in one hand, which you’re allowed to do, to video, and you have another guy going, ‘Where is the gun?’ Shouldn’t you know that before you kill somebody?”

“No, no, you shouldn’t,” Joey Jones answered. “Thank God you’re not a police officer.”

Watch the clip above via The Five on Fox News.

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