Free Store run by Gisele Fetterman vandalized by anti-Israel protestors
The banner isn’t the first time the Free Store has faced the ire of anti-Israel protesters, who target it because of the senator’s support for the Jewish state.
Gisele Barreto Fetterman said it was her children who first noticed the banner draped over the side of the Free Store 15104, in Braddock.
Painted on a gray handmade sign were the words “Genocide John Genocide Gisele Blood On Your Hands.”
“My children saw that as I was driving them to school,” Fetterman said. “Unfortunately, my kids have gotten used to this. My daughter has been yelled at, at Ulta. My youngest was yelled at, at Target. This has become our life.”
According to Fetterman, the banner had bricks placed under and over it, which would have fallen on anyone attempting to remove the sign from below.
While the vitriol has become expected over the last 18 months — Fetterman’s husband is Sen. John Fetterman, a defender of Israel and the Jewish community — it represents a change of fortune for the family that had been darlings of the progressive community.
John Fetterman is a former lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania and served as the mayor of Braddock before that. The Fettermans still live in the former steel town that has struggled to rebuild after the collapse of the steel industry.
Gisele Fetterman founded the Free Store in 2012. The store’s mission is to combat food and clothing insecurity in the community. She’s also the co-founder of 412 Food Rescue, which receives donated food from grocery stores and restaurants, and redistributes it to food banks and shelters.
She’s a firefighter in the community, as well.
Neighbors in Braddock support the Free Store and its work, Gisele Fetterman said.
“Our volunteers are from the community,” she said. “We’re serving community members. We’re volunteers. We’ve been doing this for 14 years, hundreds and thousands of hours away from our families to serve the community.”
The banner isn’t the first time the Free Store has faced the ire of anti-Israel protesters, who target it because of the senator’s support for the Jewish state.
Gisele Fetterman said people have left vile messages on the store’s social media accounts.
“They protested at my home last year,” she said. “It was organized by the Thomas Merton Center, who receives foundation funding in Pittsburgh. They spent two-and-a-half hours outside my house with bullhorns while my children were inside.”
In a joint statement the Jewish Federations of Greater Pittsburgh, Greater Philadelphia, Lehigh Valley and Greater Harrisburg, and the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition condemned the act.
“Targeting individuals or businesses because they support Israel is antisemitism —plain and simple,” the statement read. It called the accusation that Fetterman has blood on her hands a “baseless and malicious act” that harms vulnerable individuals who rely on the Free Store’s services “and does nothing to support the Palestinian people in Gaza.”
“The harassment directed at Senator Fetterman and his family — at their home and offices — since Oct. 7 is equally unacceptable,” it concludes.
For the senator’s wife, it’s indicative of the state of the world. She bemoans the fact that people can’t separate the work and politics of a U.S. senator and his family who aspire to better their community.
“I think that you’ve seen it on a national stage,” she said. “I think it’s why we have the leadership we have now, because of this kind of behavior. I feel very sad about it.”
For his part, the senator took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice his frustration.
“People defaced the FreeStore in Braddock last night,” he wrote. “Since 10/7/23 I’m used to the vandalism at our home or my office. But Gisele and volunteers distribute food, clothing and formula at no cost to our community — and they shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
Gisele Fetterman said she reported the incident to U.S Capitol Police, who she said work locally, and also to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
Anyone who notices suspicious activity is urged to report it to the Federation. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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