A man from Minneapolis, who identifies as a member of “Antifa,” has taken down his social media profiles after urging “armed” individuals to intervene against immigration officials. He now claims to be “on the run.”
Kyle Wagner, who has referred to himself as a “master hate-baiter” on social platforms, initially shared a video encouraging “armed” supporters to join protests against immigration authorities. Facing backlash, Wagner released another video expressing fears that “they’re going to silence me” and revealing he was “on the run.” His initial call to action came in response to the death of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday.
“I am basically on the run now. You know, I have safe places and I have evacuations planned out, but, the way things are going, I’m going to have to be very resourceful, and that’s going to take support,” Wagner said. “As I’ve said a million times, I am going to stay in this fight to the bitter end. I’m not gonna run away, but I will need some help.”
On Monday afternoon, Wagner removed his remaining social media accounts and deactivated his Venmo used for donations.
Kyle Wagner had urged protesters to take action following Alex Pretti’s death at the hands of a Border Patrol agent. (Instagram/kaos.follows and Arthur Maiorella/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The activist claimed his video calling for “direct action” in response to Pretti’s death was labeled as inciting violence, stating, “they’re being bullied by the administration clearly.”
Previously, Wagner called for “armed” men to attend protests in order to protect innocent people.
“I’m Kyle, I’m Antifa, and everybody in my DMs and calling me and blowing me up, I love all of you,” Wagner said in an Instagram video. “I understand that the women who see this are really scared that their husbands are gonna go and not come back, and that’s real, and I am very sorry ladies that that is what is happening, but I don’t understand how you’re struggling to follow that they’re gonna keep killing us if we don’t end this. And we can’t end this without good men in the streets, armed and ready to protect innocent people from being gunned down by these massed murderers, these fascist occupiers.”
“I need boots on the ground and I need them prepared to do what needs to be done so that this does not cost more innocent lives. We do not have any more time to let this drag out. I know it sucks, but this is the iron front,” he added.
Agitators converge after the shooting of Alex Pretti. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
While Wagner said in a second video that he cannot legally possess a firearm, he told others who have guns to “show up.”
“You are killing people in the streets for waving cameras in your faces and calling you little b—-es like you are,” Wagner said, referring to immigration officials. “So, gloves off then, right?”
Shawn Holster, former chair of the Minneapolis GOP, told Fox News Digital that it’s clear Wagner “has never experienced an interaction with law enforcement in the past.”
Large crowds flood Minneapolis to protest ICE after the Pretti shooting. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
Holster said that Wagner’s call to action shows that “wannabe influencers” need to get out of Minneapolis.
“I make of it as the primary problem that we’re having in Minneapolis right now, which is the unprecedented influx of wannabe influencers,” Holster said. “You get rid of the influencers or the so-called influencers, 80% of the tensions in Minneapolis go away.”
“They’re the ones exacerbating this,” he added.
Wagner’s initial call to action came after two anti-ICE agitators, Renee Nicole Good and Pretti, were killed by federal immigration agents this month.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital, while he was recording federal officers on a street in Minneapolis. Federal officials initially said Pretti approached immigration agents with a 9mm handgun and resisted when they tried to disarm him, but eyewitness accounts and bystander video raise questions about the government’s version of events.
President Donald Trump on Sunday confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that his administration is “reviewing everything” regarding the shooting.
