Melania Trump Breaks Silence on Alex Pretti Shooting With Rare Plea to the U.S.
By news desk — Updated February 4, 2026
In a moment that has drawn intense national and international attention, First Lady Melania Trump has publicly addressed the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse from Minneapolis, Minnesota, in what has become one of the most controversial law-enforcement incidents in the United States in recent memory. Her remarks — urging unity and peaceful protest — represent a rare political intervention from a figure who has generally remained cautious about public commentary on divisive national issues.
I. The Shooting of Alex Pretti: What Happened?
On Saturday, January 24, 2026, federal law-enforcement officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol engaged in a controversial operation in downtown Minneapolis as part of an expanded immigration enforcement initiative undertaken by the Trump administration. During the operation, Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse and lifelong Minneapolis resident, was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent.
The incident came amid a broader and intensifying federal offensive against undocumented migration and sanctuary policies in cities like Minneapolis — a campaign widely publicized and directed from the White House.
Conflicting Accounts
Authorities initially claimed that Pretti “approached officers” with a handgun and resisted being disarmed, prompting the agent to fire in self-defense. However, video footage circulating of the encounter appears to contradict the administration’s account. In the footage, Pretti holds only a phone in his right hand — and no weapon in his left — at the moment before he is shot during a struggle with agents.
Public records show Pretti was legally carrying a concealed firearm, though there is no evidence he ever brandished it toward agents immediately before being shot.Continue reading…
