Washington [US], January 28: US First Lady Melania Trump on Tuesday called for national unity following fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis that have sparked unrest and debate over her husband's immigration enforcement operations.
Speaking in an interview on Fox News, she appealed for calm and urged Americans to come together.
"We need to unify. I'm calling for unity," she said, adding that she and President Donald Trump were focused on working with Minnesota officials to prevent further violence.
She referenced what she described as positive talks between the president, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
"I'm against the violence. So if please, if we protest, protest in peace, and we need to unify in these times," she said.
The first lady did not explicitly mention the shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis that have driven protests, calls for accountability and demands that the agents who have surged into the city in recent weeks leave.
Agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, on January 24 and Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and poet, on January 7. Both were US citizens.
The killings inflamed tensions over the Trump administration's mass immigration crackdown in Democratic-run cities and provoked outrage after federal officials blamed Good and Pretti's actions for their deaths, despite video footage to the contrary.
Melania Trump, who rarely comments publicly on political issues, made the remarks ahead of the release this week of an Amazon documentary about her life. (DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune
