Gisele Fetterman, Wife Of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Declines To Press Charges Against Woman Who Launched Racist Tirade
BRADDOCK, Pa. (CBS/AP) — The woman who was recorded by the wife of Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor directing a racial slur against her at a grocery store won't be charged, state police said Thursday. A news release said investigators concluded the woman's actions were a violation of state criminal law, but Gisele Fetterman and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman did not wish to see her prosecuted.
Gisele Fetterman said the woman seemed to recognize her on late Sunday afternoon near her home in Braddock and repeatedly used racial slurs.
She followed as Fetterman retreated to her vehicle in the store parking lot, and was seen using a slur during a two-second clip that Fetterman posted to social media.
Gisele Fetterman said Thursday she preferred that the woman instead get assistance from social service agencies and other help.
Thank you all so much for your outreach & kindness this week. It's our fervent hope that she is able to secure the necessary treatment and intervention needed in order to break this cycle. The optimal outcome to this scenario lays in a way forward and away from hate. pic.twitter.com/8bFmorxDoi
— Gisele Barreto Fetterman (@giselefetterman) October 15, 2020
"The optimal outcome to this scenario lays in a way forward and away from hate," Fetterman said in a statement also posted on her Twitter feed.
Fetterman was born in Brazil and moved to the United States when she was 8 years old.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)