Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman's past is coming back to haunt him ahead of the upcoming mid-term elections in November. A 2013 incident where he chased an unarmed Black man with a shotgun is getting attention again in the state thanks to a recent political advertisement.
The ad, which was sponsored by super PAC American Leadership Action, brings up the contentious moment Fetterman, who was the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania at the time, confronted Chris Miyares and falsely accused him of firing a gun in his neighborhood. The video also claims he never apologized for his actions.
While Politifact determined the ad to be mostly true, fact-checkers say it's leaving out key details. According to WTAE, Fetterman was outside his home on January 26, 2013, when he thought he heard several gunshots.
"I didn’t know if it was a rampage. I didn’t know if it was a drive-by. I didn’t understand," he told reporters at the time. "At that point, I made a decision as a parent, and as a mayor, to intervene until the first responders could get there and sort it all out."
Fetterman said he spotted "an individual dressed all in black, with his face obscured, running away," jumped into his pickup truck, and pursued the man, later identified as Miyares, into North Braddock. He claims he didn't know Miyares was Black before chasing him.
When Fetterman caught up to Miyares, he asked the Black man twice to "stay put." Miyares refused, and that's when Fetterman pulled a shotgun from his vehicle. The politician didn't point the gun at Miyares, who was 28 at the time. When police arrived at the scene, Fetterman reportedly kept yelling and insisted "that he knows this male was shooting, but did not see Miyares holding a gun nor shooting a gun."
Miyares said the "gunshots" Fetterman heard were actually fireworks, and that he runs through the area every day for exercise. Police noted that Miyares didn't have any weapons.
"Miyares was very cooperative, but was upset that Fetterman pulled a shotgun on him," according to the police report. "Miyares was advised why he was stopped and he understood." He was later released with no charges.
In an interview with WTAE, Miyares said he was in a tight situation with Fetterman and the cops.
"He’s trying to make it out that it’s OK, he’s trying to justify what he did," Miyares said in the news report. "I mean, you're the mayor of Braddock in North Braddock with a shotgun."
Politifact noted that American Leadership Action supports Republican TV star Dr. Mehmet Oz, one of Fetterman's opponents in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. Black Democrats also called out Fetterman for the 9-year-old incident while they were vying for the Democratic nomination. They argued that Fetterman has refused to apologize for the dispute.
Fetterman addressed the resurfaced incident in an April interview with NBC Philadelphia, stating that he understands why people would be put off by what happened nine years ago. He also claims the situation has been "misrepresented" by his opponents.