State police said they are investigating the incident, but did not name the woman because charges have not been filed.
“The Pennsylvania State Police is investigating the incident involving Second Lady Gisele Fetterman on Sunday night,” Ryan Tarkowski, Pennsylvania state police communications director, said in a statement to Newsweek.
“No charges have been filed at this time, however investigators have identified the woman depicted in the video shared by Ms. Fetterman. The findings of the investigation will be forwarded to the Allegheny County District Attorney for review.”
Fetterman, who is married to Pennsylvania’s Democratic lieutenant governor John Fetterman, told Newsweek on Monday that the woman started hurling racist and xenophobic insults inside an ALDI store in Forest Hills on Sunday afternoon.
The 38-year-old said she had gone out without her security detail of state troopers and was waiting to paying for her groceries when the woman recognized her.
“She said, ‘There’s that n-word that Fetterman married,’” Fetterman said.
She said the woman then accosted her in the parking lot as she was backing out of her spot. “I was still shaking, but I was able to get my phone and that’s what I captured because she continued again, [saying] ‘you don’t belong here, you’re an n-word,” she added.
She shared the short clip, which shows the woman pulling off her face mask to say “You’re a n*****,” on Twitter.
ALDI has since issued a statement, saying the woman in the video was banned from its stores.
“We must stand together against racism in America. We absolutely do not tolerate harassment, discrimination or mistreatment of our customers or employees, and we condemn it in all forms,” the statement said.
“We were saddened to hear about the incident that occurred with Pennsylvania’s Second Lady, Gisele Barreto Fetterman. We are appalled by the behavior of the offending customer and she is no longer welcome to shop at ALDI.”
The company also said that it has spoken to Fetterman “to reiterate our stance and to ensure she feels safe and welcome in our stores anytime.”
The incident was also condemned by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, who tweeted: “The ethnic intimidation and hate speech spewed at the Second Lady of Pennsylvania is shameful and unacceptable.”
John Fetterman also took to Twitter to thank people for their support since the incident occurred.
“The outpouring of love + support from Pennsylvania’s leadership + citizens has been truly humbling,” he wrote on Twitter Monday. “Gisele + I love this country and our commonwealth deeply. Thank you PA, for standing with Gisele.”
“I’m grateful for the outpouring of support that is representative of my state and my country,” Gisele Fetterman added to Newsweek on Thursday.
A native of Brazil, she is a former undocumented immigrant after her family came to New York City when she was a child in the late 1980s. She received her green card in 2004 and became a U.S. citizen five years later.
She and John Fetterman married in 2008 when he was the mayor of Braddock. The couple have three children.
