Melania Trump Calls for ‘Unity’ Following Fatal Shootings of Peaceful Protesters in Minneapolis: ‘I’m Against Violence’

First lady Melania Trump delivered a rare political message Tuesday, urging calm and unity in the wake of two fatal shootings tied to protests and federal enforcement activity in Minnesota.

Appearing on Fox & Friends on Tuesday, Jan. 27, Melania, 55, said, “We need to unify. I’m calling for unity,” when asked about the turmoil following the deaths of ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, and Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three.

Melania also said President Donald Trump, 79, held what she described as “a great call” with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, 61, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, 44, on Monday, Jan. 26.

“They’re working together to make it peaceful and without riots,” she said.

“I’m against the violence, so please, if you protest, protest in peace,” Melania added. “We need to unify in these times.”

During the interview, the first lady also spoke about recent winter storms affecting communities across the U.S., saying she felt “deep compassion” for those impacted.

“As Americans, we need to help each other and come together in these difficult times,” she said.

Melania appeared on the program to promote her new documentary, Melania, telling viewers that filming the project before and during her husband’s second inauguration required an “intense schedule.” She said it was “very hard to choose” a favorite part of the film because viewers would experience a wide range of emotions, including “humor, sadness, grief.”

“I think everybody will connect under certain scenes,” she added.

Melania’s comments on Minnesota follow the death of Pretti on the morning of Jan. 24 and the death of Good on the morning of Jan. 7.

Even as Melania urged the public to “protest in peace,” video footage appears to show both Pretti and Good were participating peacefully at the time they died.

That portrayal contrasts with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement released on X after Pretti’s death. DHS claimed Pretti had “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun” and “violently resisted” efforts to disarm him. The statement said an agent then “fired defensive shots.”

Footage verified by The New York Times appeared to challenge that account, showing Pretti standing among protesters with his hands visible, holding a phone in one hand as an agent sprayed pepper spray in their direction. Several agents then approached Pretti; the video does not appear to show him holding or pulling a weapon as he was pinned on the sidewalk.

Good, meanwhile, was driving a maroon Honda Pilot on the morning of her death. After dropping her 6-year-old son at school, her wife Becca, 40, suggested they take a detour because ICE agents had flooded the city and protesters were already gathering. Good never returned home.

On Monday, Gov. Walz said in an X post that he’d “had a productive call with President Trump” earlier that day.

“I told him we need impartial investigations of the Minneapolis shootings involving federal agents, and that we need to reduce the number of federal agents in Minnesota,” Walz wrote.

Trump also addressed the call on Truth Social, writing, “Governor Tim Walz called me with the request to work together with respect to Minnesota. It was a very good call, and we, actually, seemed to be on a similar wavelength,” adding that he planned to connect Walz with White House Border Czar Tom Homan.

“The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future,” Trump added. “He was happy that Tom Homan was going to Minnesota, and so am I.”