The “woman in the pink coat” seen filming Department of Homeland Security agents murdering Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday came forward for a lengthy interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper Tuesday. Her name is Stella Carlson, and she was on her way to work to paint children’s faces at a church when she heard the sound of whistles, got out of her car and began recording what is now crucial evidence in the Pretti killing. She said she came forward to identify herself in the hope that DHS agents would do the same.
Carlson’s sometimes tearful comments are both inspiring and chilling.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said about Pretti’s murder. “I knew he was gone because I watched it.” She also described the DHS agents “ripping his clothes open with scissors” and “maneuvering his body around like a rag doll, only to discover that it could be because they wanted to count the bullet wounds … like he’s a deer. … Like they’re in a video game. They were looking at us and laughing.”
After Carlson expressed a feeling of impotence, Cooper said, “You documented this. You didn’t run away.”
“I am not one to run when I’m afraid,” she replied. “No way was I going to leave Alex by himself, undocumented. That wasn’t an option. I mean, obviously, somebody was just executed in the street. I knew I was in danger, we all were. But I wasn’t going to leave if we weren’t all cleared out. … I knew that this was a moment and we all have to be brave and we all have to take risks.”
Was Pretti’s death a murder? Cooper asked.
