On Monday, a video clip was made public that showed Democratic candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, vandalizing a sign that belonged to a local business in 2010.
Fetterman was mayor of Braddock at the time the video was made.
Local City Council Meeting
According to a report from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2010, the previous owner of Club 804, Assim Chaudhry, and the person who was keen to buy the club at the period, Cordell Collins, had shown up to a local city council session.
They showed up with a computer and played footage showing Fetterman defacing the sign.
When John Fetterman (D) was Mayor of Braddock he vandalized a local black owned business. Fetterman wanted to send a message that the government was going to shut down the black nightclub. This was a TV news story about Fetterman's vandalism at the time:pic.twitter.com/cqUeUNTjNE
— RRH Elections (@RRHElections) October 3, 2022
In the video, Fetterman can be seen altering the sign, so that it now reads “Closed Not Opening Soon,” rather than “Opening Soon Under New Management.”
Chaudhry said at the council meeting this was the mayor they had running in the town.
Fetterman did not try to cover up the fact that he had done it, as evidenced by the fact he boasted about it to a local news station. He explained vandalizing the sign was his way of giving the club advance warning that he was going to try to close them down.
Issues With Black Community
Democrats are keeping their fingers crossed that Fetterman would prevail in his contest against the Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz. Democrats want Fetterman to help them achieve a majority in the Senate, which is now deadlocked.
It appears the longstanding mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, made some adjustments to his campaign website in response to criticism regarding his approach to drug policy.
.@greggutfeld : Fetterman supporting BLM was a 'protection racket' https://t.co/e3zPLlK8fv
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 30, 2022
Although the language of Fetterman’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement was still included on the website’s problems page as recently as a month ago, it has now been removed.
An older version of the website had a section titled “Black Lives Matter” that included the following text: “John functioned as mayor of a city that is more than 80% Black, and has actively promoted the idea that Black lives matter since long before it became a hashtag.”
In 2013, Fetterman caused controversy after he reacted to what he assumed to be gunshots by pulling a gun on an African-American and handcuffing him until police arrived. This incident has generated uneasiness among black voters because of how Fetterman handled the situation.
Additionally, Fetterman has a long history of advocating for contentious issues, such as regulated drug injection sites and the legalization of drugs.
In an interview conducted in 2018 by Aaron Watson for the podcast, Fetterman expressed his opinion that society must get ahead of the drug crisis. He stated he believes it is essential they do so.
Fetterman thinks it’s necessary and valuable to consider all of its options, including needle swap, which is technically only legal in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and safe injection sites, which are currently under consideration.
This is important to him because he thinks it’s essential for society to have all of its options on the table.
