First lady Melania Trump called for unity in Minnesota on Tuesday as outrage continues to swell over the presence of federal agents in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
“I’m calling for unity,” Melania Trump said during an interview on Fox and Friends. She added that President Donald Trump had held what she described as a “great call” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, insisting that all sides were working together to keep the situation from escalating.
“I’m against the riots,” the first lady said. “So please, if you protest, protest in peace.”
Her remarks come as the Trump administration has noticeably shifted its public messaging following Pretti’s killing, the second fatal shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis in just over two weeks. Earlier this month, ICE officers shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, intensifying scrutiny of the administration’s immigration enforcement tactics in the city.
Multiple witness videos of Pretti’s confrontation with federal agents show him filming officers during an altercation in which he appeared to intervene as a woman was being pepper-sprayed. Pretti was also pepper-sprayed, and video appears to show an officer taking his firearm and walking away before Pretti was shot in the back.
In the immediate aftermath, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly claimed Pretti had “attacked” law enforcement while “brandishing” a weapon, describing the incident as an act of “domestic terrorism.” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller went even further, labeling Pretti a “would-be assassin.”
But the White House has since appeared to retreat from that framing. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters she had not heard the president characterize Pretti in those terms. Trump himself said Monday that his conversations with Walz and Frey had been “very good” and focused on how to move forward.
As protests continue, federal officials confirmed that some agents — along with Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino — are expected to leave Minneapolis on Tuesday, a move seen as an effort to cool tensions after days of unrest.
