Melania Trump makes rare political statement following Alex Pretti shooting
Melania Trump has made a rare political statement this morning (27 January).
The US First Lady has called for 'unity' following the shootings and unrest in Minnesota.
On Saturday, Alex Pretti was shot by a federal immigration agents as The Department of Homeland Security said an agent fired in self-defence. This comes after Renee Good was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in her car earlier this month.
"I'm against the violence, so please, if you protest, protest in peace," Melania told Fox & Friends.
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She was promoting her new movie when she took the time to say she was 'calling for unity'. It's pretty rare we hear from Melania in such a public way - especially discussing political issues or her husband's Donald Trump role.
"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," she said, reaffirming that the US needs to 'unify in this time'.
Melania's plea for peace and unity comes after the president said he had 'very good' called with Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
As the unrest continues in the state, Trump agreed to pull some federal immigration officers from the state.
On Sunday, he didn't answer The Wall Street Journal's interviewer when asked if the officer did the right thing in shooting Pretti.
"We’re looking, we’re reviewing everything and will come out with a determination," he said.
Trump did however criticise the 37-year-old ICU nurse for carrying a gun at the protest as he said: "I don’t like any shooting. I don’t like it.
"But I don’t like it when somebody goes into a protest and he’s got a very powerful, fully loaded gun with two magazines loaded up with bullets also. That doesn’t play good either.”
The president also seemed to claim that immigration officials may leave Minneapolis soon as he said: "At some point we will leave. We’ve done, they’ve done a phenomenal job.”
Some eyewitnesses, officials and Pretti's family have challenged the claim that his killing was in self-defence. It's claimed he had a handgun and resisted attempts to disarm him but videos show no evidence that he used armed force to threaten agents.
His family told AP he was upset by Trump's crackdown on immigration in Minneapolis.
"Alex always wanted to make a difference in this world, and it's devastating that he won't be here to witness the impact he was making," his younger sister, Micayla, said in a statement.
Topics: Melania Trump, Politics, US News
Jess Battison