General Discussion

Fetterman's past gun incident rattles Black Democrats in Pa. Senate race
The incident took center stage in the race last week when John Fetterman’s two Democratic opponents excoriated him over his actions in 2013 and for his refusal to apologize.

John Fetterman said he heard what sounded like gunfire and saw a man running away. So he reacted by getting his kid inside to safety before he called 911.

What Fetterman did next, however, still haunts him nine years later as he campaigns for the Democratic nomination for the Senate in Pennsylvania: He chased the man down with a shotgun and detained him until police arrived.

It turned out that the man was jogging and wearing running clothes. According to a police report, the man was unarmed and said the sound of gunfire was actually fireworks, although two witnesses thought they heard shots.

The man Fetterman pulled a gun on is Black. Fetterman — the mayor of the Pittsburgh-area borough of Braddock at the time and now the state’s lieutenant governor — is white. Fetterman, 52, said he couldn’t tell the jogger's race initially because of how he was bundled up in the winter cold.