Fetterman Under Fire Over Progressive Stance on Crime, Connections to Crips Gang

Pennsylvania Democratic Senate nominee John Fetterman, who is under attack from Republican opponent Mehmet Oz over his progressive views on criminal justice reform, attracted criticism from recent a TV ad that chronicled a 2013 incident when he chased down an unarmed black jogger and detained him until police arrived.

Now, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor is answering questions about a Washington Free Beacon article that reported how he touted connections in Braddock, Pennsylvania, to the Crips street gang when he was running for mayor of the borough in 2005.

According to the article, Fetterman used the slogan “Vote John Mayor of Braddocc,” which reflected how local Crips gang members spelled the name of the town.

Fetterman was elected mayor, and a 2006 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about how he claimed there were two Braddocks—one with the original spelling used by older residents who remember when the borough flourished, and the other “B-R-A-D-D-O-C-C,” which he said “acknowledges an allegiance that many of the younger residents there have with the Crips gang.”

Using his own money, Fetterman created websites with the domain names http://www.braddocc.com or http://www.15104.cc to promote the borough.

The second domain name showcased Braddock’s zip code, which is tattoed on Fetterman’s forearm.

The websites are no longer active, but they described how “Braddocc” was “unofficially renamed” by the “young and disenfranchised for its Crip allegiance,” according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Braddock, the site explained, was a “flourishing city of 20,000 residents.

“Home to Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill and free library. Wealth, amenities, expansive shopping district, dozens of churches, movie theaters, furniture stores, breweries, schools.”

“Braddocc,” the site reported at the time, was “a malignantly beautiful town of 2,500 residents. Unofficially renamed by dropping the ‘k’ for a ‘c’ by young and disenfranchised for its Crip allegiance. Still home to Carnegie’s first steel