For the most part, I like Kash Patel, and not just because he seems to perpetually look like he just got caught doing something he shouldn't have. He's done a solid job.
And most people on our side of the fence feel that way...until he said something he knew better than.
It's not that he broke the law or anything, but his comments in the immediate aftermath of the Alex Pretti shooting were completely out of line, as Lee Williams also noted recently.
Patel, who is only 45 years old, has been on the ground whenever and wherever his agents need help, including Minnesota.
His energy has paid off.
Nationally, there has been a 20% drop in the murder rate, and a 100% increase in violent crime arrests.
More than 1,800 gangs and drug crews have been broken up—an increase of more than 210%.
Most importantly, more than 6,000 missing children have been located and are being returned home, and 1,700 child predators and now behind bars. That alone is absolutely stunning work.
Which brings us to Minnesota and the hell federal agents are facing on an hourly basis.
After federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, who was very well armed, Patel said this:
“No one who wants to be peaceful shows up at a protest with a firearm that is loaded with two full magazines,” Patel said during an interview on FOX. “That is not a peaceful protest, and you do not get to touch law enforcement. You do that anywhere; this FBI is going to be leading the charge to arrest those.”
Respectfully, Director Patel, millions of law-abiding American gun owners strongly disagree.
The Second Amendment guarantees our right to be armed—period—full stop. There is no “protest clause,” which cancels it out, or any ammunition limit.
Even uber-liberal Minnesota allows private citizens with a concealed-carry permit to be armed, including at a protest.
Bingo.
Some have argued that because Pretti didn't have his permit on him at the time, he was guilty of a crime. That's a crime that comes with a $25 fine, which can be waived if you present your permit, apparently. That's hardly an armed felony.
Regardless, the official word from people like Patel wasn't about his permit. It was about him having a gun at a protest and having spare magazines while doing so.
I don't think it's generally wise to show up to something like these activities that rely heavily on interfering with ICE operations while armed. Especially since so many of Pretti's fellow travelers have made it clear they want to kill ICE and Border Patrol agents for enforcing federal immigration law. But "unwise" and "illegal" aren't synonyms.
Yes, Patel may have popped off emotionally because of everything that's happening in Minnesota these days, but he should still know better.
The entire administration should have known better.
The right to keep and bear arms doesn't end at your political affiliation, and it doesn't go away because you're protesting federal law enforcement actions, even if you're doing it stupidly.
What happened was that Patel sounded an awful lot like the people who bashed Kyle Rittenhouse for having a gun that night in Kenosha. The outcome was different, sure, but it's the same mentality.
And since so many on the left are suddenly advocates for carrying a firearm on the streets of America, it's pretty hard not to be more disgusted by this, even if it's an off-the-cuff reaction.
To be sure, this clip will surface every time Patel says anything pro-gun from now until the end of time, and not without cause. This is going to be used against him and the gun rights movement for years to come. The same is true of every other comment from ostensibly pro-gun voices that forgot themselves.
