John Fetterman, the current Lt. Gov. of Pennsylvania and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, appointed someone he referred to as a “friend” of a cop-killing Black Panther to the state’s Board of Pardons. I’m sure there’s no agenda there, right? If you needed any more reasons not to vote for this guy if you live in the state of Pennsylvania, you got a really good one now.
According to the folks over at Newsmax, Fetterman, who is currently facing off against GOP candidate Mehmet Oz in the Senate race coming up this November, appointed Celeste Trusty, who describes herself as a “friend” of Mumia Abu-Jamal, to serve as the secretary of the board, back in January, says information from a report put out by the Washington Free Beacon.
This isn’t too terribly shocking when you look at Fetterman’s record. He’s notorious for voting to free cold-blooded killers. He’s the kind of guy who basically embodies “soft-on-crime” policies, seemingly taking the side of evil, wicked bad guys over the victims they leave behind in their wake. Fetterman has also referred to the board of pardons as his “bully pulpit for criminal justice reform.”
Check out some more details from the Newsmax report:
He has bragged that he “transformed” the lieutenant governor position by leading “the fight to free the wrongfully convicted and give second chances to deserving longtime inmates,” the Free Beacon reported. Fetterman was the only member of the five-person board to vote last year to pardon Wayne Covington, who was convicted of first-degree murder after killing a man to steal money to buy heroin.
“Wayne Covington was high on drugs when he robbed and murdered George Rudnycky,” Oz tweeted with a link to inmatesforfetterman.com on Tuesday morning. “In June 2021, John Fetterman was the only member of the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons to vote to commute Covington’s sentence, despite the pleas of the victim’s family.” Covington struck a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, the Free Beacon reported.
Trusty, who served as Fetterman’s campaign political director, is a longtime prison reform activist who has called to “disarm the police,” the Free Beacon said. Abu-Jamal, whom Trusty has called a “friend” and “my buddy,” is serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The convict’s death penalty sentence was overturned in 2011.
Trusty has stated that she is in frequent contact with Abu-Jamal, an individual that many in the progressive movement want to see released from prison, claiming he is the victim of a wrongful conviction. Fetterman and Trusty have both been pushing to see an end to mandatory life sentences for folks who are convicted of second-degree murder. Doesn’t every bad guy in jail claim he’s innocent? The guy is in there for a reason, right?
Trusty, in her role on the board, does not get to have a vote on individual pardon applications. But she does, however, oversee the daily operations of the board, moderates hearings, and also advises other board members. Which is way, way, too much power and sway, even without a direct vote.
It’s worth pointing out that Trusty also served on Fetterman’s campaign from March of last year until January.
