by Nicholas Ballasy
Gisele Fetterman, the wife of Senator-elect John Fetterman, campaigned with defund the police supporters after her husband deleted the Black Lives Matter section of his website.
Defunding the police and shifting it to mental health and social workers has been a demand of the Black Lives Matter movement.
A section titled “Black Lives Matter” on the Fetterman campaign website had said: “John served as mayor of a city that’s more than 80% Black, and has championed the idea that Black lives matter since long before it became a hashtag.” It was removed in September, according to a New York Post report.
On the Sunday before Election Day, Gisele Fetterman posted photos of herself on social media with “Top Chef” star Padma Lakshmi, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and Meena Harris, Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece.
She also posted a photo with actress Kerry Washington, who was in Philadelphia campaigning for Fetterman. Washington posted about her campaign events on social media.
Jayapal, Lakshmi, Harris and Washington are supporters of Black Lives Matter and defunding the police.
Harris, in particular, frequently tweeted about defunding the police last year.
“Defund the police and reallocate funds to mental health and social services,” she wrote in February 2021. “This shouldn’t be controversial.”
As Fox News points out, both Lakshmi and Washington have also “promoted the Louisville Community Bail Fund, a group founded by Black Lives Matter (BLM) Louisville that went on to pay the $100,000 bond in February 2022 for BLM activist Quintez Brown after he was accused of trying to shoot Craig Greenberg, a Democratic Louisville mayoral candidate.”
Ms. Fetterman and her husband have been outspoken about criminal justice reform. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Ms. Fetterman wanted to be a “prison warden” at a men’s prison “since she was a child,” which has influenced her interest in the criminal justice reform issue.
Ms. Fetterman has said she agreed with Biden’s recent decision to issue an executive order that includes a federal pardon for minor marijuana offenses.
“The criminalization of cannabis is directly linked to the number of Black and Brown people who have nonviolent criminal charges on their record,” she said. “So many parents, siblings, and kids have been thrown into jail for cannabis-related charges.
“And even those who are lucky enough to get out, are now branded with a criminal record and told to get out and make it in the world. I don’t think that’s fair. Minority communities deserve a better chance and I think with Biden’s promise, we can finally give that to them.”
The “stigma and misinformation that surrounds cannabis close people off from looking at the positives of cannabis,” said Ms. Fetterman, who uses medical marijuana. “From helping those who want more natural alternatives to relieve their chronic pain (like me!) to those who simply want to use cannabis for recreational use. It should be something we understand, not fear.”
– – –
Nicholas Ballasy reports for Just the News.
Photo “Gisele Fetterman” by Gisele Barreto Fetterman.
