Question

The photo of the gun allegedly owned by the allegedly armed man executed by ICE is FAKE...

Answer 1

From the research I’ve conducted, this statement appears to be false. The only evidence supporting the claim that the photo of the firearm was fake is a screenshot of an image search of the firearm with a Reddit post titled “Weekly Discussion Megathread” that was supposedly posted 5 days prior to the incident involving Alex Pretti. According to this Snopes article: "We found no evidence the image the DHS shared circulated online before the Jan. 24 shooting or that it was a pre-existing stock image.” However, in the article, it was stated that the metadata for the photo could not be obtained to confirm the legitimacy of the statement that the photo that the DHS shared is not the firearm found on Pretti. It is also important to add that many photos surrounding this incident are AI-generated or altered in some way. But from my research, the photo being questioned is not AI-generated or altered. 

(Tagging this as Exaggerated/Misleading due to the fact that the metadata on the photo could not be obtained to confirm the legitimacy of it)

Source: 

https://www.snopes.com/news/2026/01/26/alex-pretti-gun-dhs-stock-photo/

Answer 2

The photo of the gun showed in the article is not fake, although this is misleading. The photo released by the Department oh Homeland Security (DHS) was a real photo of a fun that was at the scene. However, the issue is that video from the altercation that day shows that the gun that was found on Pretti was removed and placed far away from his reach prior to the police firing at him. The gun was present at the scene but it did not pose any imminent threat to the officers. 

Links used: The Justice Department has opened a federal civil rights probe into the killing of Alex Pretti, AI image of Alex Pretti’s killing is the latest altered photo amid ICE surge in Minneapolis, Video Analyses at Odds with DHS Statements on Minneapolis Shooting

Answer 3

The source is considered misleading or exaggerated.  The phot of the gun is real however it was found on a Reddit post five days prior to the altercation.  The Department of Homeland Security later released a photo of a gun used at the said altercation.  The gun was found at the crime scene later on but was placed far enough from Alex Pretti that it wasn't a threat to the officers. 

Links: https://apnews.com/article/minneapolis-ice-fbi-alex-pretti-immigration-65a963816603a08bbc9db83961dd173f

Answer 4

Based on my research, this statement appears to be exaggerated/ Misleading. The main evidence claiming the photo of the firearm was fake comes from a screenshot of an image search and a Reddit post that was supposedly shared before the incident. However, according to Snopes, there is no proof that the image existed online before the Jan. 24 shooting or that it was a stock image. While the article explains that the photo’s metadata could not be checked, this alone does not prove the image was edited or fake. Even though many images connected to this incident were AI-generated or altered, there is no clear evidence that the firearm photo shared by Department of Homeland Security was manipulated.

links used:https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/fake-image-shared-photo-minnesota-woman-fatally-shot-by-ice-agent-2026-01-14/?utm

Answer 5

There are many different videos of the Alex Pretti shooting, but only one is real. The clip shown on all reputable news networks and social media accounts shows Alex Pretti being stripped of his gun and put out of reach. However there are alternative videos showing he never had a gun, these are AI videos that have doctored. The New York Times article mentions that there are many different versions posted by many different accounts. This seems to mean that different people had the same idea, which produced a cornucopia of videos that showed him not having a gun.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/25/us/minnesota-shooting-false-posts.html

Answer 6

After checking this claim, the photo of the gun appears to be misleading rather than real. Multiple fact-checking reports show that AI-enhanced or manipulated images have been circulating online in connection with federal law-enforcement shootings, including ones involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and these altered photos can spread confusion about what actually happened. In fact, a widely shared image claiming to show a gun in the Minneapolis incident was manipulated with AI and doesn’t come from verified footage of the event, and similar AI-generated imagery has been debunked by independent fact-checkers. Because this photo can’t be traced back to credible body-camera video or a reliable news source and shows signs of manipulation, it should not be trusted as an accurate depiction of the incident.

Source: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2026/jan/27/tweets/Image-AI-Minneapolis-Alex-Pretti-Immigration/?utm_source=chatgpt.com