First Lady Melania Trump called for peaceful protesting in Minneapolis as demonstrators continue to take to the streets following the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by a federal agent.
“I’m calling for unity. I know my husband, the president, had a great call yesterday with the governor and the mayor, and they’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots. I’m against the violence, so please, if you protest, protest in peace. And we need to unify in this time,” the first lady said Tuesday morning on Fox & Friends.
Mrs Trump has been more visible in the media in recent weeks ahead of the release of her documentary Melania, helmed by disgraced Hollywood director Brett Ratner and licensed by Amazon as part of a reported $40 million deal. The documentary, which will be released in theaters on January 30, had a private screening at the White House this weekend, and another event is planned for the Kennedy Center Thursday.
While some social media users on Instagram lauded the first lady for being “classy” and sharing a “great message,” others had less kind words, instead criticizing her remarks as tone deaf.
“Are you kidding me? If you are against the violence, you should tell your husband to remove ICE from Minnesota and to turn over the man who killed a peaceful American observer,” one user wrote on Instagram.
“We ARE protesting in peace. Don’t you watch?! Your husband and his thugs are bringing the violence. Tell them to stop!” another Instagram user remarked.
“Are you serious!??? They were protesting peacefully!!!” another Instagram user added.
Her plea for peace comes a day after President Donald Trump said he had “very good” calls with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and agreed to pull some federal immigration officers from the state as outrage grows. It also comes as the commander of Trump’s immigration crackdown, Greg Bovino, is being sent home from Minneapolis.
Anti-ICE protests have been in full swing in Minneapolis since agents descended on the city in December, though they have only intensified in recent weeks following the fatal shootings of Pretti on Saturday and Renee Nicole Good on January 7.
Trump administration officials claim the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti, who federal authorities said had a semiautomatic handgun and was “violently” resisting officers. However, bystander videos appear to show Pretti with only a phone in his hand.
This version of events has also been challenged by Pretti’s heartbroken family, who said in a statement the “sickening lies” told by the administration are “reprehensible and disgusting.”
Videos circulating online showed Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA medical center, being wrestled to the ground by federal officers before he was shot. Immediately after the shooting, Trump officials, including Bovino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, rushed to defend the agent.
Bovino claimed, without evidence, that Pretti had intended to “massacre law enforcement.”
Meanwhile, Noem suggested during a press conference Saturday that she believed Pretti was engaged in “domestic terrorism” — a statement refuted the next day by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Gov. Walz’s office said that Trump agreed to “look into reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota.” More than 2,000 federal officers have been brought into Minnesota in recent weeks to carry out Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
President Trump also said Monday that Border Czar Tom Homan would be calling Walz, “and that what we are looking for are any and all criminals that they have in their possession.” The announcement comes a day after Trump said he would be deploying Homan to the state to manage ICE operations.
“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Sunday. “Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”
