WASHINGTON (TNND) — In a rare public address, First Lady Melania Trump urged national unity following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents.
“We need to unify,” Trump said in an appearance on Fox & Friends.
“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,” Trump continued. “I’m against the violence, so please, if you protest, protest in peace. And we need to unify in these times.”
Pretti is the second United States citizen to be killed amid a confrontation with federal agents in Minnesota in less than three weeks. He was tackled by eight agents to the ground when it was discovered that he was lawfully carrying a firearm. The tussle continued while Pretti was on the ground with the officers, ending with him being shot multiple times.
Earlier this month, Renee Good, an anti-ICE protester, was fatally shot by an ICE agent as she attempted to drive away. The Department of Homeland Security claimed that Good was attempting to run the agent over with her car.
While DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Pretti as a “domestic and top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino claiming he was seeking to “massacre” agents; President Donald Trump has distanced himself from this characterization of Pretti. White House press secretary Kristi Noem said during the press briefing that she had ‘not heard the president characterize’ Pretti as a terrorist.
The New York Times reported that Trump was unhappy with how DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had handled the death of Pretty and that it was decided she’d shift her focus on securing the Southern border instead of internal immigration enforcement operations. Trump had announced Monday night that he would be sending in border czar Tom Homan to oversee immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota.
“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me.”
The First Lady’s comments come as her new movie “Melania,” which follows her life during the weeks leading up to the presidential inauguration, is set to hit theaters Friday.
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