Pennsylvania Democrat Senate candidate John Fetterman is rethinking a campaign talking point about releasing second-degree murderers from prison.
Two years ago, when Democrats first started talking about defunding the police, this probably seemed like a good idea to Fetterman. Now that public sentiment has shifted? Not so much.
Jessica Chasmar reports at FOX News:
Fetterman campaign walks back apparent call to ‘free’ every convicted second-degree murdererThe campaign of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman is walking back comments he made last year that appeared to call for the release of all second-degree murderers from Pennsylvania’s prisons.Fetterman, the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor who chairs the state’s Board of Pardons (BOP), commissioned two reports last year released by Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) that recommended the BOP consider merit-based clemency for currently incarcerated second-degree murderers, as well as for the state legislature to reform the law that mandates life sentences without parole for second-degree murder convictions.Fetterman said at the time that he commissioned the reports in a call for “mercy for the deserving and rehabilitated.”During a PLSE press conference on March 1, 2021, Fetterman said the reports documented “the lives that are destroyed” and “the resources that are wasted” due to Pennsylvania’s statute, and that he hoped the reports’ findings would “lead to a conversation” that would free close to 1,200 people.”I hope that it could lead to a conversation that would free close to 1,200 people of a legacy that never made sense, that encompasses victims’ input, encompasses their conduct and behavior in prison, it takes a look at the resources that are wasted that…,” he said.
Now that crime is one of the top issues for voters in the midterms, this sounds even crazier than it did last year.
Fetterman is now even going so far as to say that he will not vote to defund police, but he is allied with a far-left outfit that is dedicated to the idea of defunding police.
Chuck Ross reports at the Washington Free Beacon:
John Fetterman Says He Won’t Defund The Police. His Latest Campaign Partner Says Otherwise.Senate hopeful John Fetterman says he opposes efforts to defund police departments. That could put him at odds with his latest campaign partner, a left-wing political action committee that has called critics of the radical cause “squeamish centrists” and “appeasers.”Brand New Congress, founded by organizers for Bernie Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign, on Tuesday endorsed Fetterman as a “bold, progressive voice” who if elected will bring “transformational change” to the Senate. The organization also announced a joint fundraising initiative with Fetterman that will split contributions between the PAC and Fetterman’s campaign.Brand New Congress has repeatedly called to defund law enforcement and said it supports progressives who are “unapologetic” in supporting that and other “revolutionary change.” The group has urged lawmakers to sign Rep. Cori Bush’s (D., Mo.) pledge to defund police and has accused former president Barack Obama of “appeasement” for criticizing the movement’s slogan.
Fetterman’s health is obviously not his only issue. He must explain all of this to the people of Pennsylvania before the election.
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