John Fetterman, Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania, now running for Senate! FANTASTIC!!

[cornball 24]

[sop]

1. The stuff about Trump's appeal to voters not being transferable was very interesting.

[DeminPennswoods]

5. And true

nt

[Wounded Bear]

13. IIRC, his track record for actively supporting candidates isn't very good...nt

[helpisontheway]

2. He was very impressive during his television appearances

while the votes were being counted. In fact, he put me more at ease than the governor.

[cornball 24]

3. Living in Pennsylvania, I felt exactly the same!

[StarfishSaver]

4. There are some very serious concerns about him

He's got some 'splainin' to do ...

John Fetterman, Senate Candidate, Revisits Gun Incident Involving Black Jogger
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/us/politics/john-fetterman-gun-black-jogger.html

At the height of protests last year over police violence against Black people, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, John Fetterman, called for police officers to be better trained to defuse incidents where those involved did not threaten public safety.

“We must fall on the side of de-escalation every time,” Mr. Fetterman wrote, citing his experiences as mayor of the town of Braddock, outside Pittsburgh.

But as Mr. Fetterman — one of Pennsylvania’s most prominent Democrats — enters the race for U.S. Senate this week, an incident from his past highlights his own judgment in the heat of one such moment.

In 2013, when he was mayor, Mr. Fetterman used his shotgun to stop an unarmed Black jogger and detain him, telling the police that he had heard shots fired near his home and spotted the man running, according to the police report. “Fetterman continued to yell and state that he knows this male was shooting,” the police report says. Two other people told police they had heard several shots as well.

An officer who patted down the man, Christopher Miyares, then 28, found no weapons. The officer noted that Mr. Miyares was wearing running clothes and headphones. Mr. Miyares was released.

Link to tweet

[DeminPennswoods]

7. No was killed or even arrested, the police handled the situation appropriately and

Mr Miyares was released unharmed. The Braddock police were under the supervision of Mayor Fetterman, I might add.

[StarfishSaver]

10. That's not an excuse

He needs to apologize and people need to stop excusing it. There is nothing harmless about chasing down black men in the street with guns and the fact that Mr. Miyares wasn't killed and was "released unharmed" is not enough.

Black men are facing an existential crisis in this country as a result of armed white people assuming they're criminals and taking it upon themselves to hunt them down. Whether Mr. Miyares didn't get shot this time is not the point. Fetterman needs to help people understand that he understands the damage that kind of behavior does.

[Celerity]

9. After reading the NYT's article in full, I have zero problems with Fetterman in regards to this. nt

[StarfishSaver]

11. You may not

But many people do. He's going to need to deal with it and just pushing it away as if it was no big deal because no one got killed isn't going to be good enough.

[Celerity]

12. I am not buying into your FUD post attempt at a hatchet job on a great Dem. The NYT's article

clears up everything to a more than sufficient extent for me.

In 2013, when he was mayor, Mr. Fetterman used his shotgun to stop an unarmed Black jogger and detain him, telling the police that he had heard shots fired near his home and spotted the man running, according to the police report. “Fetterman continued to yell and state that he knows this male was shooting,” the police report says. Two other people told police they had heard several shots as well. An officer who patted down the man, Christopher Miyares, then 28, found no weapons. The officer noted that Mr. Miyares was wearing running clothes and headphones. Mr. Miyares was released. On Tuesday, in response to questions from The Times, Mr. Fetterman’s campaign shared a new two-and-a-half minute video in which the candidate described the incident and defended himself — a sign that his campaign anticipated that the events from eight years ago would resurface with potential political fallout for his Senate bid. In the video, Mr. Fetterman says that he was outside his home with his 4-year-old son when he heard “this crushing burst of gunfire,” and “I immediately made a series of split-second decisions.” He said he saw someone “dressed entirely in black and a face mask” running in the direction of an elementary school.

Noting that the date, in January 2013, was not long after the Sandy Hook school shooting, Mr. Fetterman said, “I made the decision to stop him from going any further until the first responders could arrive.” According to accounts Mr. Fetterman gave in 2013 to local media, he chased the man in his pickup truck and used a 20-gauge shotgun he kept in the truck to hold him until the police appeared. “I believe I did the right thing,” Mr. Fetterman told WTAE-TV at the time. “But I may have broken the law in the course of it. I’m certainly not above the law.” Mr. Miyares told the TV station in 2013 that Mr. Fetterman had pointed the gun at his chest; the mayor denied doing so. Mr. Miyares said the incident unnerved him, and he maintained that what Mr. Fetterman took to be gunshots were bottle rockets set off by a group of kids. Mr. Fetterman said no traces of fireworks were found in the area.

No charges related to the incident were brought against Mr. Fetterman, who was in his second of four terms as mayor. A search of public court records did not find any complaint or action taken by Mr. Miyares following the incident. A spokesman for the Allegheny County Police Department said on Tuesday that Mr. Miyares never filed a complaint with the department.

In 2018, Mr. Miyares was charged with multiple felonies in a separate incident, including kidnapping for ransom, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment, according to publicly available court records. He is currently incarcerated in state prison in Somerset County, Pa., and could not be reached for comment. Mr. Fetterman’s run-in with Mr. Miyares surfaced briefly in 2016 during an earlier Senate bid by Mr. Fetterman, when he ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary. At the time, he told The Philly Voice that his pursuit and detainment of the runner had nothing to do with race. “The runner could have been my mother for all I knew, thanks to what the jogger was wearing,” he said. In his statement released along with the video, Mr. Fetterman said the incident with the jogger had been spread by political opponents since 2015 “and it’s never gone anywhere because people here know that I did the right thing for my community.”

Most recently, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully last year for a House seat from western Pennsylvania, Sean Parnell, tweeted about the incident in July 2020. Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, retweeted Mr. Parnell. “I’m not going to just sit here while a bunch of Republicans who have never given a damn about racial justice launch these bad-faith attacks from the safety of their gated communities,” Mr. Fetterman said in his statement. “They’ve never had stray bullets hit their home, or had a bullet whiz by so close that you can feel the air move. When I ran for mayor, I made a commitment to do whatever I could to confront this gun violence — and that’s exactly what I’ve done.” He noted that he was re-elected in 2013 by voters in Braddock, which is 80 percent Black.

[blue neen]

14. Thank you.

[StarfishSaver]

15. As I said. It may clear it up for you

The fact that other people may not be satisfied with his explanations to date does not make our questions a "hatchet job."

Try your gaslighting on someone else. It doesn't work on me.

[Celerity]

17. Gaslighting? LOL I am not the one borrowing from the Republican playbook that was used against him

by a Rethug just a few moths ago.

Fetterman, AFTER that incident, was re-elected in an 80% African American town, AND won the Lt. Governorship pf Pennsylvania with the support of a massive amount of African American votes.

I am not one who is attempting to gaslight.

Shameful to see this smear jobbing of an elected Dem (and likely our best shot, or one of our best shots at taking that PA Senate seat back) on DU.

[StarfishSaver]

19. Yes, gaslighting

Telling a black woman that she is "borrowing from the Republican playbook" because she pointed out that many African Americans have concerns about a white man chasing down a black man in the street with a shotgun is the very definition of "gaslighting" - among other things.

[Celerity]

21. I am a black woman too, so do not try to play that game with me. Just because someone is a person

of colour doesn't give them a pass to try to fob off dodgy hit jobs on a really good elected Democratic with slanted posts and inferred issues that in your mind are enough to scupper his run. He has passed multiple black voter electoral tests already, both in a heavily black town, and at state-wide level in a state with shedloads of black voters who supported him in large numbers.

[StarfishSaver]

25. I know. you're black woman. That's why I'm surprised that you're reacting this way.

You don't seem to notice that I have not criticized or even challenged the conclusion you've drawn about Fetterman. You have every right to be satisfied with his explanation.

I, on the other hand, am not. And the fact that I am not is not a reason for you to attack me and accuse me of "borrowing a Republican playbook," or "fobbing off dodgy hit jobs" or that I'm trying to "scupper his run.

You have your opinion of Fetterman. Good for you. I am not as willing as you are to accept his explanation and I want to hear more from him about it. I'm not sure why you have such a problem with that, but you're not going to back me down or gaslight - yes gaslight - me into adopting your point of view that someone questioning the circumstances surrounding a white man chasing a black man down with a gun is out of line.

[Celerity]

28. I went through this same framing with Buttigieg (who, if memory serves you were a fellow supporter

of) and I just am not a fan of racial reductionism like:

I know. you're black woman. That's why I'm surprised that you're reacting this way.

The irony is, Pete DID have a huge problem with PoC (regardless of what the reasons were, and you surely know all that mess from back in the primaries) in terms of earning enough votes from our cohort, but Fetterman, based off of a tangible electoral history, doesn't have that issue, UNLESS this incident if spun up by our own (at least in the coming primary) and weaponised to try and ut the old bovver boots to his chances.

So, all that said, I am surprised as well, at your responses. I do apologise if you thought I was coming on too strong about the Repug playbook, but that is exactly what they (so SO hypocritically, like Fetterman himself said) did to him (or tried and failed to used as a springboard for another race) in July 2020.

Most recently, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully last year for a House seat from western Pennsylvania, Sean Parnell, tweeted about the incident in July 2020. Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, retweeted Mr. Parnell.

“I’m not going to just sit here while a bunch of Republicans who have never given a damn about racial justice launch these bad-faith attacks from the safety of their gated communities,” Mr. Fetterman said in his statement. “They’ve never had stray bullets hit their home, or had a bullet whiz by so close that you can feel the air move. When I ran for mayor, I made a commitment to do whatever I could to confront this gun violence — and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

[Laura PourMeADrink]

37. Yes, very odd C

[Blue_true]

16. He was re-elected after that incident with 85% of the Black vote.

They guy that he pulled the gun on was later arrested for a violent domestic abuse situation and then later did something that has him in prison. I believe you will have a hard time making a hero out of a guy like that.

Should Fetterman have pulled the gun? No, he should have used a camera and take a picture of the guy, then have police handle it if they found that a crime had been committed during the time/date that the photo of the guy was taken.

[StarfishSaver]

18. That may be

But he needs to say more about it than just blow it off as he has.

And being reelected with 85% of the Black vote doesn't answer the question for many people.

Instead of just dismissing people's concerns, he needs to address them - and that is more than just saying, "I didn't do anything wrong and that's that." It would also be nice if white folk hearing black people raise questions about it didn't respond by saying, "Other black people voted for him so

And please, please, please do NOT use the "the black guy was no angel" argument. No one is trying to make a "hero" of him. You're engaging in exactly the gaslighting tactic that has black folks disgusted and furious.

This isn't about whether Miyanes was a hero. This is about a man running for the Senate who pulled a gun on a black man and chased him down in the street understands the ramifications and dynamics of that kind of behavior and whether he's willing to discuss and engage rather than blow it off like it's no big deal that he doesn't need to discuss beyond what he's already said.

[Blue_true]

22. I am Black. I have pointed that out several times.

Honestly, if I had a gun and lived around a place that had deadly violence (people having been killed by guns) and I heard a burst of gunfire and saw a guy running from the area, I would stop him to at least find out why he was running from the area, if that required that I pull the gun on him, so be it. I don’t believe that I would need to pull a gun on an innocent person who was just running for their lives, in fact such a person would likely welcome seeing me with a gun.

[StarfishSaver]

26. I don't care what color you are

Telling a black woman that she's out of line for expecting a public official to do a better job explaining why he chased a black man down with a gun is ridiculous.

I didn't question your opinion or conclusion. But your assumption that no one has a right to see it differently than you do and must accept his explanation because you have is ridiculous.

[Blue_true]

27. The guy that he chased down was dressed in all black and wearing a facemask

at a time when that was not common at all. Maybe it was cold and the guy was just wearing a face covering against the cold, but I would assume that Fetterman would know to make that distinction, ie, a runner in cold weather versus a guy who may have been involved in questionable activity.

[StarfishSaver]

31. Ok

You're convinced. That's nice.

I'm not and want to hear more from him about it.

[Blue_true]

34. Good enough. Take care of yourself. nt

[Laura PourMeADrink]

38. +1 Bt

[Celerity]

20. "dressed entirely in black and a face mask" (so I do not think a pic would have helped much)

Two other people told police they had heard several shots as well.

[NurseJackie]

44. Yes. Thoughtful and caring people do.

But many people do.

Yes. Thoughtful and caring people do. This circling-of-the-wagons and refusal to acknowledge the underlying truths is disturbing.

This attitude I'm seeing of "all's well that ends well" leaves much to be desired. It's disappointing.

[rogue emissary]

43. Unfortunately, his fans have excused his vigilantism.

If he were a Republican, they wouldn't be so understanding of his actions. This story is crazy on so many levels.

[samnsara]

6. I do like him

[Cha]

8. Love It! Best of Luck to Lt Gov John

Fetterman!!

TY!

[world wide wally]

23. I see him as the Anti-Trump

[Laura PourMeADrink]

39. Isn't everyone? Who is worse? JK.. kinda funny, sorry

[oasis]

24. Fetterman was most impressive in his press interviews concerning

the vote counting debacle in PA during the 2020 Presidential election.

[gab13by13]

29. Fetterman is a guaranteed flip from R to D.

No amount of negativity will stop him. I will vote for him twice if given the chance. I wish more Democrats spoke their mind like he does.

Fetterman will make a great Senator, an outspoken Democrat not afraid to tell it like it is.

[Celerity]

32. Yes I LOVE great communicators, and in a multiplicity of styles.

Blunt, no bullshit types like Fetterman, Sherrod Brown, Maxine Waters, Ed Markey, Barbara Lee, etc., and also the more rapier-like takedown artists like Buttigieg, AOC, Stacey Abrams (she is a hybrid type) and Katie Porter.

ALL of them, in their own way, have zero fucks to give when it comes to tearing Rethug white power, fundie xian, lying, hate filled goons some new assholes.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

41. Beto ! He's a no bullshit truth teller too!

[Celerity]

42. YES! but he is unfortunately getting slated in another thread, sigh

[Laura PourMeADrink]

40. +1. You, and others living in PA, who know, endorsing

him, speaks volumes!

[gab13by13]

30. Also, being mayor of Braddock,

was not the easiest job in the world. He gets points for wanting to take that on, he has guts.

[Oldem]

33. There's still Madeleine Dean to consider.

[jalan48]

35. Love his take no shit attitude.

[BobTheSubgenius]

36. Better an imperfect Democrat than any Republican I can think of.