Martha Stewart, the 84-year-old lifestyle personality and businesswoman, shared a political message on social media on Jan. 26, framing her views on the recent protests surrounding federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Stewart described herself as ‘not party-centric’ but said she felt moved to speak out after hearing from her granddaughter, Jude Stewart, age 14. “Granddaughter Jude wrote me a note yesterday,” Stewart wrote on Instagram, adding, “I took it to heart and posted the above.”

In the text from her granddaughter, Stewart shared that Jude, “I’m not sure it’s excusable to not be speaking up right now,” as several other celebrities also took their turn to speak out.

Stewart responded with a fuller statement to her followers. “[My granddaughter] is sensitive to what is going on in our country, as we all should be,” she wrote.

Stewart went on to describe her emotional reaction to the protests and federal enforcement actions, writing, “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, that we cannot show our frustration in peaceful demonstration, and that we can be attacked and even killed by Federal troops.” She concluded her message saying, “Things must and have to change quickly and peacefully.”

Stewart’s post came amid nationwide attention to protests and demonstrations sparked by multiple fatal encounters between civilians and ICE agents in Minnesota this month.

In early January, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by a federal agent during an ICE enforcement operation in Minneapolis, and her death was later ruled a homicide by local officials.

The situation escalated later in January when another Minneapolis resident, 37-year-old intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti, was fatally shot by federal Border Patrol agents during a protest.

Pretti’s death drew widespread public attention and condemnation from various public figures, with some, including late-night television host Jimmy Kimmel, criticizing the actions of the agents and describing the killings as “vile” and “heartless.”

Families of both Good and Pretti publicly reacted to the events. Good’s family issued a statement calling the sequence of events “terrifying, deeply disturbing, and heartbreaking,” and urging Americans to review video evidence of the shootings as they pushed for federal operations to stop. Meanwhile, local leaders and public officials, including Minneapolis city council member Aisha Chughtai, have called for accountability and policy changes in response to what they described as ongoing ICE violence.

The deaths have also had political impact beyond protest lines. Republican attorney and Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel dropped out of the 2026 race, citing opposition to the federal immigration surge and criticizing what he described as the overreach of enforcement actions.