State representative and U.S. Senate candidate Malcolm Kenyatta called out challenger Lt. Gov. John Fetterman this past weekend over a 2013 incident in which Fetterman, shotgun in hand, confronted a Black jogger he suspected of being involved in nearby gunfire.

Kenyatta’s criticism occurred during a virtual forum held by statewide progressive group Keystone Progress on Friday. When asked by moderators how to address gun violence, Kenyatta, a state representative from Philadelphia, spoke about his support for lost-and-stolen gun legislation. But toward the end of his comments, he called on Fetterman to apologize for the 2013 incident.

“For years now, he has changed his story about what happened, and refuses to say a couple of simple words of ‘I’m sorry, and I’ll never do it again.’ And I think that this is something that we can’t ignore,” Kenyatta said.

In 2013, while mayor of Braddock, Fetterman pursued a running man wearing a mask and goggles, and pulled out a shotgun until police arrived. Fetterman has said he believed he heard gunfire in Braddock and said he could not tell the race of the individual. The man, Christopher Miyares, who is Black, was unarmed.

According to Fetterman in 2013, Miyares told police he was jogging and he saw children playing with bottle rockets, which could have accounted for the sounds. Fetterman reiterated Friday that he believed he heard gunshots.

During the forum, Kenyatta claimed Fetterman pointed a shotgun at Miyares, and accused Fetterman of being involved in gun violence and of “vigilante justice.” Fetterman did not fire at the jogger, nor was the jogger injured.

Fetterman called Kenyatta’s description of the event “categorically false.” He said he was responding to a spontaneous shooter situation as Braddock mayor. He denied ever pointing the shotgun at the individual.

Fetterman also reiterated his defense of the incident by noting that Braddock is a majority Black community and that he was re-elected two times after the incident was first reported.

“They understood that it was about public safety and protecting the community,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman defended his record on gun violence. He said Braddock went 5½ years without the loss of life through gun violence. He also touted creating a community policing model that didn’t result in allegations of overpolicing.

Kenyatta’s renewed criticism comes one week after another Democratic candidate for Senate, Rep. Conor Lamb, called out Fetterman for the shotgun incident and said Fetterman skipped an April 2 debate because he didn’t want to address the issue. Lamb was invited to Friday’s virtual forum, but organizers said he didn’t attend because of scheduling conflicts.

All three are Democratic candidates in the May 17 primary election for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat.

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