Fabricated Trump “Truth” on Guns Circulates After Minneapolis Protest Shooting
The Claim Taking Hold Online
In the volatile hours following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, social media platforms became saturated with emotionally charged content.[1] Amid genuine reporting, protest footage, and verified video evidence, a single screenshot [2] began circulating with unusual speed. Purportedly taken from President Donald Trump’s Truth Social account, the image showed a post written in all capital letters claiming: “HE HAD A GUN, ONLY CRIMINALS CARRY GUNS ON OUR STREETS.” The implication was explosive. For a president whose political identity has long been intertwined with pro–Second Amendment rhetoric, the alleged statement suggested a dramatic ideological reversal at a moment of national tension.
The screenshot first appeared on Instagram on January 25, 2026, before rapidly migrating to Facebook,[3] X,[4] and Threads.[5] It was framed as proof that Trump had openly branded gun carriers as criminals, with captions accusing him of betraying his base. Some posts juxtaposed the supposed Truth Social post with images of Kyle Rittenhouse, whom Trump publicly supported after his 2020 acquittal. Others addressed gun owners directly, urging them to recognize what they claimed was Trump’s “true position” on firearms. Within hours, the image had become embedded in protest discourse, shared both by critics condemning the administration and by users seeking to provoke outrage among Trump supporters.
Minneapolis, Use of Force, and a Charged Information Environment
The claim did not emerge in a vacuum. Minneapolis was already on edge following President Trump’s decision to deploy additional immigration enforcement officers to the city. On January 24, Pretti was shot and killed after being tackled on an icy roadway by federal agents.[1] The Department of Homeland Security asserted that Pretti posed a lethal threat, citing his possession of a legally carried firearm.[2] This official narrative closely echoed statements made earlier in the month after another Minneapolis resident, Renee Good, was fatally shot by an ICE officer under similarly disputed circumstances.
However, verified video footage reviewed by independent outlets including The New York Times and Bellingcat contradicted key aspects of the government’s account.[1] In Pretti’s case, the footage showed that although he was legally armed, he never drew his weapon. Agents deployed a chemical irritant, forced him to the ground, and fired approximately ten shots. These discrepancies fueled protests and deepened public mistrust, creating an environment in which fabricated content could circulate with minimal resistance
Verifying the Alleged Truth Social Post
CyberPoe conducted a comprehensive review of the viral screenshot using platform verification, archival searches, and forensic consistency analysis. The results are unambiguous. There is no evidence that Donald Trump ever posted the quoted statement on Truth Social.[1] A review of Trump’s verified account shows no post containing the alleged wording, nor any message asserting that “only criminals carry guns.” Searches of independent archiving services that preserve Trump’s Truth Social activity, frequently relied upon by journalists because posts can be edited or deleted, also yielded no record of such a statement.
Equally telling are the internal inconsistencies present in the screenshot itself. Every instance of the image reviewed displays identical engagement metrics, listing precisely 1.29k comments, 2.87k reposts, and 11.5k likes. In authentic viral posts, screenshots are typically captured at different moments as engagement rises, resulting in varied counts across platforms. The uniformity here strongly suggests that a single fabricated image was created and then replicated, rather than multiple users independently capturing a real post.
What Trump Actually Posted
Trump did address the situation in Minnesota on January 24 via Truth Social. That post, which is archived and verifiable, included an image of a firearm he claimed belonged to Pretti and aligned with the administration’s emphasis on officer safety.[1] Crucially, however, it did not include any broad condemnation of gun ownership or language suggesting that only criminals carry firearms. This distinction matters, as the fabricated screenshot attempts to attribute to Trump a sweeping ideological statement that contradicts both his documented positions and his actual messaging at the time.
Further undermining the viral claim, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara publicly confirmed that Pretti held a valid permit to legally carry a gun. This fact was widely reported by U.S. media and stands in direct opposition to the language attributed to Trump in the fake post.
Why the Fabrication Resonated
The success of the fake screenshot lies in its strategic exploitation of political fault lines. Trump’s long-standing association with gun rights advocacy made the alleged statement shocking and therefore highly shareable. At the same time, anger and grief following the Minneapolis shootings created an audience primed to believe that extreme rhetoric was being used to justify lethal force. The screenshot’s close imitation of Truth Social’s interface further lowered skepticism, particularly among users scrolling quickly through emotionally charged feeds.
This episode reflects a familiar pattern in crisis-driven misinformation. Fabricated statements attributed to powerful figures gain traction because they appear to confirm what different audiences already suspect or fear. In this case, critics saw validation of authoritarian instincts, while supporters felt provoked by claims that their rights were under attack. The result was rapid amplification before verification could catch up.
CyberPoe Verdict
There is no evidence that President Donald Trump posted a message claiming that “only criminals carry guns on our streets” in response to the shooting of Alex Pretti. The screenshot circulating across social media is fabricated and unsupported by Truth Social records, independent archives, or credible reporting. It represents a manufactured narrative injected into an already volatile situation, illustrating how easily false content can distort public understanding during moments of crisis.
CyberPoe | The Anti-Propaganda Frontline 🌍
