GOP seeks to tie John Fetterman to The Crips — because of how he once spelled 'Braddock': report

With GOP celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz struggling against Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Pennsylvania's Senate race, Republicans are now trying to tie the Democrat a violent street gang founded in Los Angeles.

"The Pennsylvania Senate race has it all: crudités, allegations of carpetbagging, two outlandish, irregular political personalities going scorched-earth for one of the most competitive seats in the country," The Daily Beast reported Wednesday. "And now, Republicans are pushing a not-so-subtle narrative that Democratic nominee John Fetterman supports—or maybe even has ties to—a gang. The Crips, to be exact."

In 2007, the Los Angeles Times reported, "the Crips gang was formed in 1971 by two people -- Raymond Washington and Stanley Tookie Williams. Washington was killed in a shootout in 1979. Williams was executed by the state of California in late 2005. But he left behind a manuscript that sets the record straight."

Now, half a century after the gang's founding, it has become an issue in a U.S. Senate race on the other side of the country.

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"The Crips news cycle began after the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news site, published a piece Monday detailing Fetterman’s use of the Crips-favored spelling of Braddock, Pennsylvania, while running for mayor of the town in 2005. The gang used the spelling 'Braddocc': a moniker Fetterman used in some campaign messaging in an effort to reach younger voters in the run-down steel town," The Beast reported. "Over the years, Fetterman has addressed the mid-aughts strategy, saying it shouldn’t be interpreted as glamorizing gangs."

Oz tweeted a story from the far-right website Breitbart published under the headline, "PA Democrat John Fetterman Embraced Spelling of Braddock that Showed Fidelity to Notorious Crip Gang."

The Beast added, "the Fetterman-Crips messaging follows a rant from Fox News’ pundit Tucker Carlson last week questioning Fetterman’s forearm tattoos. Fetterman’s tattoos largely refer to his work in Braddock—with one section of tattoos detailing the dates of deaths by violence in the town."

Read the full report.