In February 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was murdered while jogging in Satilla Shores, near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia. Three white men pursued Arbery in their trucks for several minutes, incorrectly believing him to be a burglar. Arbery tried to run away, but the men prevented his escape and eventually shot him and recorded themselves doing it. National outrage erupted over the shooting and the botched investigation, but all three men were found guilty last year.
This story bears a striking resemblance to an incident from nine years ago involving John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. Yet, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard the story.
In 2013, John Fetterman, who was mayor of Braddock, Pa., at the time, saw a black man jogging after hearing what he thought was gunfire. After the noise, he brought his child inside to safety and dialed 9-1-1. Instead of waiting for authorities to investigate, according to the police report, Fetterman grabbed his shotgun and chased an unarmed black man down, holding him at gunpoint until the police arrived.
In 2013, Democrat John Fetterman said he “did the right thing” by chasing down an unarmed Black jogger and pulling a shotgun on him. pic.twitter.com/j4dHUeKdRX
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 17, 2022
The man had been out jogging and was dressed for it. The sound Fetterman heard was actually fireworks. Fetterman claims that he was initially unable to determine the jogger’s race due to the fact that the jogger was bundled up against the cold winter air.
Related: Why is Child of Privilege John Fetterman Running as a Working-Class Hero?
Fetterman’s primary opponents called him out over the incident during a televised debate, questioning his motives and his lackluster explanations for his behavior. Pennsylvania Democrats also expressed concern that the incident could reduce the turnout of African Americans in the upcoming midterm elections. Without significant minority turnout in the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Democrats are unlikely to prevail in November.
“He’s not shooting straight on this, no pun intended. Just fess up. Apologize,” Michael Nutter, Philadelphia’s last Black mayor, told NBC News in April. “All this other stuff — that he was the chief law enforcement officer or that he didn’t know the guy was Black — just doesn’t really sound like he wants to tell the truth.“
Nutter added, “It’s not helping him. Figuratively speaking, he’s shooting himself in the foot, and he doesn’t have to.”
Fetterman went on to win the primary despite the incident, but its potential impact on the minority vote in November is clearly enough of a concern that the incident has barely been mentioned since the primaries.
“If you think Black voters didn’t turn out for Hillary Clinton because she called people superpredators but you think that a white guy pulling a shotgun on a Black guy won’t have an effect — in the context of the post-George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor — then you’re living in fantasy land,” noted Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler, a top Democratic organizer in Philadelphia.
“This story can become a drumbeat almost every day or just result in one good ad that can depress Philadelphia’s turnout by 40, 50,000 votes,” Tyler added. “That would be enough to lose the election for us.”
Fetterman has never apologized for the incident. Democrats are clearly afraid that it could harm him in November, yet Dr. Oz hasn’t made it a major issue yet. Considering the outrage that followed Ahmaud Arbery’s murder, it seems inevitable that Oz will make it one.
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