The crypto industry has largely coalesced around U.S. President Donald Trump and his vision for making America the “crypto capital of the world,” but some members are publicly distancing themselves from his administration following a fatal shooting in Minneapolis last weekend.
After two Border Patrol officers fired shots that killed U.S. citizen and legal observer Alex Pretti on Saturday—amid protests over immigration roundups in the Twin Cities—a number of people pushed back against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller’s assertion that the ICU nurse acted as a “would-be assassin,” including Bruce Fenton.
Tribalism in politics causes people to abandon their own principles and not know what is true.
Trump admin & MAGA fans made a huge tactical error in jumping to attack the Second Amendment and to defend ICE without info or investigation.
Pretti was in legal possession of the weapon that was apparently removed from his possession amid the skirmish that preceded his death, with Fenton further expressing frustration toward U.S. Secretary Scott Bessent for questioning why Pretti was armed during a recent appearance on ABC's “This Week.”
“I barely even want to associate with Republicans now,” Fenton said. “Your rights are your rights.”
Decrypt reached out to Fenton for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
“Once the police state apparatus exists to this extent, it will keep finding new targets,” he wrote. “Even today, it has already expanded its violence from illegal immigrants to obviously-American defenders of immigrants.”
‘Marriage of convenience’“I've seen a lot of Bitcoiners struggling,” he said. “Libertarians who are among the most hardcore Bitcoiners have a real problem when you start questioning the Second Amendment.”
Deaton’s previous Senate bid fell short of unseating Elizabeth Warren in 2024, but he gained national recognition as a politician willing to take on the crypto industry’s biggest critics.
“It really is fair to say that the government had a boot on the neck of the industry,” he said. “I think there is a scenario where the crypto community still views the Trump administration as a net positive, but it’s only compared to what the other option was at the time.”
