Attention is being drawn to a 2013 incident in Braddock when then-Mayor John Fetterman pulled a gun on a Black jogger in a new ad by American Leadership Action.
"During Pennsylvania’s Senate primary, Black Democrats worried that the GOP would target voters with ads about the time Democrat John Fetterman pulled a gun on a Black jogger he wrongly suspected of a crime. Now it’s on the air," NBC News reported.
Fetterman, the state's lieutenant governor, is the frontrunner to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey.
"A political committee backing Fetterman's opponent in the general election, Republican Mehmet Oz, is launching a 30-second TV ad about the incident that started airing Tuesday on networks that have solid African American viewership, such as Black Entertainment Television, the Oprah Winfrey Network, MSNBC and ESPN, the group, American Leadership Action, said by email. The committee also has a companion 15-second digital ad designed to reach Black voters on their smartphones and social media feeds," NBC reported.
The ad buy is reportedly for $500,000.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Former FBI official believes Trump judge could try and get all of the agents thrown off the case
"Fetterman leads in nearly every poll, and by double digits in some surveys, prompting Republicans to train their fire on him to keep Democrats from flipping the Senate seat that Republican Pat Toomey is giving up," NBC reported. "The incident happened nine years ago when Fetterman was mayor of the Pittsburgh-area town of Braddock. He said he heard what he thought was gunfire, saw a man running away, chased him down with his shotgun and detained him until police arrived. The jogger, Chris Miyares, was found at the time to have committed no crime."
Miyares is backing Fetterman's campaign.