Video footage that really doesn't show much of anything. Reports of alleged car-break-ins. We've traveled down this road before. Lots and lots of times before. 

Over the more than forty years of living in St. Elmo, more than 60 when considering I was born here, for various reasons there have been several false flags and manufactured crimes that actually never happened. One that stands out most in memory is of a detective investigating reports of (note reports of)  alleged (alleged) break-ins, burglaries and acts of vandalism who came to the conclusion the vast majority of these reports actually appeared to be "inside jobs." His actual words. Perhaps, it wasn't expected for that detective to be so thorough, smart, honest and professional at his job in getting to and uncovering the facts of the reports. Also, please carefully note "inside jobs." 

Those "false flags" and false exaggerations caused a lot divisions in the community and led to a even more innocent young males, primarily young black males to be harassed, roughed up and finding themselves slammed upside a police cruiser WWB and roughly patted down. Some unnecessarily arrested on exaggerated and false charges. A woman with lung cancer being tasered even after neighbors asked the cop not to taser  her because she had lung cancer. So what? She was a tipsy and mouthy, but nothing threatening and certainly nothing that would require the use of a taser. Especially on someone neighbors had informed she had lung cancer. 

The son of a longtime neighbor, struggling with mental illnesses, nearly lost his freedom, when the "false flags" and manufactured crimes started to crumble and the truth would have been exposed. A soft target was needed to take the fall, and he made the perfect "soft target." Like many young males struggling with mental illnesses he had a criminal record, coupled with the mental illness, it would have been a slam-dunk and a way out for the false flag party-gang. They could declare "case solved." "Whew! We missed bullet! This time," in their deceit.  

Personally, I see it as "their" test for the newly elected District 7 council person. Just to see how much and to what degree, if any, she can be used and controlled to carry out the self-serving biddings of a few. Will she speak for ALL the people in the district, or a select few whose only desire is to control and mislead her? Or will she be her own person, ask the right questions and smarter than they might think she is? Only time will tell. I'm banking on she's smarter than they are. Lots smarter. 

Brenda Washington