Though the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office determined that the woman’s alleged conduct supports the “charging of several violations,” the Fetterman family prefers “the woman be given an opportunity to engage appropriate social services and other resources,”
state police said in a news release.
State police said this week they had identified the woman, but they did not release her name.
The Brazilian-born Fetterman, 38, who fled the violence of Rio de Janeiro in 1990 and grew up in New York, told CNN a
White woman harassed her inside the store and later approached her vehicle, pulled down her mask and delivered the epithet before walking away. Fetterman posted a two-second video of the incident to Twitter.
“This incident is a reminder of the toll racism takes on individuals as well as the community. The Pennsylvania State Police is committed to fair and thorough investigations and encourages victims to immediately report crimes motivated by hate or bias to law enforcement,” state police said in the news release.
Fetterman met then-Braddock Mayor John Fetterman in 2007, and they married the following year. They have three children.
Since moving to Pennsylvania, Gisele Fetterman has developed a record of helping others, including the impoverished, immigrants, LGBT, minorities, imprisoned and the hungry. She’s earned myriad awards for her philanthropy.
John Fetterman was elected lieutenant governor last year. The family
declined to move into the state residence and lives in a remodeled car dealership in Braddock.
CNN’s Eliott C. McLaughlin and Alec Snyder contributed to this report.
