Martha Stewart breaks political silence after being urged by teenage granddaughter: 'Things must change'

Martha Stewart said the moment has come to use her platform for politics, following the shooting death of a protester by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis Saturday. 

The 84-year-old lifestyle expert shared with her-nearly 3,000,000 Instagram followers a copy of a text message from her teenage granddaughter Jude.

Jude urged her to act in the moment following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse at a Minnesota VA hospital, during a protest at an immigration enforcement operation by ICE on Saturday. 

'My granddaughter wrote this to me yesterday,' Stewart said. 'She is 14 and sensitive to what is going on in our country as we all should be.'

The text read, 'I'm not sure if it's excusable to not be speaking up right now.'

The Jersey City-born businesswoman added in additional text to the post to provide context to where she was at politically. 

'I am disheartened and sad each and every day that we cannot demonstrate our sympathy for the beleaguered, that we are told immigrants, which most of us are or descended from are unwelcome,' the stalwart TV star said.

Stewart said she was upset 'that we cannot show our frustration in peaceful demonstrations and that we can be attacked and even killed by federal troops.'

She wrapped up in saying, 'Things must have to change quickly and peacefully.'

Stewart received supportive sentiments in the adjacent comment thread from fellow celebs such as Bravo's Andy Cohen, content creator Sai De Silva and designer Brian Atwood. 

Cohen remarked, 'Amen' to Stewart's sentiments about meeting the moment.   

Said one user: 'Jude is 14 years old and gets it, but some adults cannot see it;' another user said, 'QUEEN MARTHA ILY!'

Another user described Martha's granddaughter as 'a compassionate, strong child,' adding, 'Thank you for listening to her.'  

Stewart's remarks come less than two years after she endorsed Democratic candidate, former Vice President Kamala Harris, over Republican candidate and eventual winner, President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Stewart, appearing at a Retail Influencer CEO Forum in 2024, was asked who she was voting for; she said she was casting her ballot for Harris because she 'doesn't hate democracy' and 'doesn't hate New York.'

Stewart told CNN in 2016 during Trump's first presidential campaign against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton: 'We just can't have a country run by someone who is totally unprepared for what comes.'

In Minneapolis on Sunday, federal and state officials were clashing over the incident, with each saying the other side was at fault. 

Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Sunday that Pretti had placed himself in harm's way with his conduct in the incident.

'When someone makes the choice to come into an active law enforcement scene, interfere, obstruct, delay or assault law enforcement officer and - and they bring a weapon to do that - that is a choice that that individual made,' Bovino said, according to the AP.

Walz asked at a news conference, 'Which side do you want to be on? The side of an all-powerful federal government that could kill, injure, menace and kidnap its citizens off the streets, or on the side of a nurse at the VA hospital who died bearing witness to such government.'   

Walz was one of a number of notable Democrats who spoke out about the incident, a group including his former running mate, ex-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris hailed Pretti via social media as a person who 'was dedicated to serving his community and our country.'

Harris continued, 'As so many have now seen on video, his final act before he was killed by federal agents was doing everything in his power to protect his community.

'Alex and tens of thousands of Minnesotans have boldly defended their neighbors against the murderous occupation of an American city by the federal government.'

The 2024 Democratic presidential candidate wrapped up in saying she was 'enraged and heartbroken for Alex, his family, Minneapolis, and America.'

Another former presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for 'all federal agents — ICE and Border Patrol' to be 'withdrawn immediately from Minneapolis and other cities.'

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said, 'ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.'