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,” she said Tuesday morning on Fox & Friends.
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 protests swell. It also comes as the commander of Trump’s immigration crackdown, Greg Bovino, is being pulled from his role in Minneapolis.
Anti-ICE protests have been in full swing in Minneapolis since agents descended on the city in December, though they have only intensified 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 been challenged by Pretti’s family, who said in a statement the “sickening lies” told by the administration are “reprehensible and disgusting.”
“Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” the family said.
Videos circulating online showed a 30-second scuffle between Pretti and federal agents before the 37-year-old nurse was shot.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he saw multiple bystander videos of the shooting, and described seeing “more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death.”
Melania Trump’s appearance on Fox News comes as her documentary Melania, helmed by disgraced director Brett Ratner and licensed by Amazon as part of a reported $40 million deal, premieres this weekend.
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