Stella Carlson, better known online as the "woman in the pink jacket" who recorded the murder of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, is urging Americans not to let ICE "intimidate" them.
Calls for an investigation have intensified from across the political spectrum after analysis of multiple videos showed ICE officers removing a handgun from Pretti—a weapon that authorities said Pretti was permitted to carry but was not handling at the time—before fatally shooting him.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other officials claimed Pretti had brandished a weapon and that agents fired “defensive shots,” assertions that have been contradicted by video evidence showing Pretti holding a phone and not brandishing a gun.
The Trump administration's critics have since called out the hypocrisy of officials who've previously praised armed right-wing protesters but are now attacking Pretti, a legal gun owner with a valid Minnesota concealed-carry permit.
Carlson spoke about her own ordeal:
"I chose to be a bystander and film and knew the best thing I could do was stay by this person's side. ... There were no agents around us until my video started playing and then it started happening so rapidly. There really was not a lot of time." ...
"After the shooting, after Alex was taken away by the ambulance, the amount of ICE agents that were on scene became more aggressive, they started brandishing their weapons, they started pushing the crowd toward 27th [Street] and then they started pulling up the yellow tape line. It was very clear they were starting to treat us like we were rioting."
After taking refuge in an apartment building, Carlson said one of her loved ones called to tell her that the authorities "are looking for you" and "you need to get to safety" because "they're looking for the girl in the pink jacket":
"Everyone's like, 'Hide the jacket! So this amazing woman offered to trade coats with me, offered me a head wrap and anything I needed to disguise myself. I have a local place where all of my community was gathering and all of my neighbors I know were gathering and they just said, 'Just come here now.'"
"I was finally safe and I was able to connect with the ACLU, file my report, give them my video, and that is the testimony you see online today. I haven't been able to go home, I'm not able to use my phones, and I'm unable to drive my car. I had my car moved the other day and somebody was following it; my friend was driving it, I was not there."
Carlson began to cry as she recalled the moment she saw ICE agents murder Pretti:
"When he died, I knew it and I felt like I saw it. It was hard to believe that that would happen in my town, in Minneapolis, that I love so much, and to Renee Good, somebody who was new to the Twin Cities. I'm so proud of being here and I'm so proud of living here and it makes me so mad that people are trying to take that away from us."
"He should have never died. He should have never been murdered."
She added:
"I want all of us to feel more comfortable in coming forward and not be threatened by this administration on this level. The more of us that do that, the less of us are individually at risk. This is a community of brave, courageous people, and I'm just being given an opportunity to represent that."
"I appreciate everything that everybody's doing and it takes all of us to make this a safer community again."
As for her decision to wear a pink jacket that day, Carlson said she made a conscious choice to "be pink and glittery and whatever I choose to be and blow a whistle."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Many were struck by Carlson's powerful testimony.
@sarahgoodloe7407/YouTube
@moonwillow2010/YouTube
@lorigesch1295/YouTube
@Bruce-bc8nc/YouTube
@abcd_efg-j8q/YouTube
@walkerhornby7331/YouTube
@Hi_Im_Akward/YouTube
@TattooedGranny/YouTube
@ericadelgado6790/YouTube
Carlson told CNN that after she saw ICE agents kill Pretti, she watched them "come over to try to perform some type of medical aid by ripping his clothes open with scissors, and then maneuvering his body around like a rag doll, only to discover that it could be because they wanted to count the bullet wounds to see how many they got, like he’s a deer.”
She said she "knew that this was a moment, and we all have to be brave and we all have to take risks, and we’re all going to be given moments to make that decision."
She said she is "grateful to myself and I’m grateful to anybody who was supportive to me after, to make sure I could get to safety and get that video uploaded to the right people.”
