By John Brice
Correspondent
News of the November 27th arrest of 82-year-old senior citizen Martha Louis Menefield by officers from the Valley Police Department for unpaid trash collection fees spread like wildfire across the United States and around the world this past week through an onslaught of mainstream media reports and social media outrage.
In rapid reaction to the observably problematic behavior exhibited by local law enforcement, consensus formed swiftly among area residents and an international legion of online commenters that the City of Valley had achieved its fifteen minutes of fame, albeit through infamy, for all the wrong reasons.
Residing in Valley for nearly 30 years, Ms. Menefield owes an outstanding balance of $77.80 to the city for garbage services over the months of June, July and August. After a misdemeanor warrant was issued by a Chambers County magistrate for her failure to pay the trash charges, two Valley police officers were dispatched to her home where they encountered Menefield.
Following a brief interaction the lawmen placed her in handcuffs, instructing “Ms. Martha” as the officer called her not to cry. She was then transported via patrol car to the police department where Menefield was placed in a jail cell that she described as “cage-like”, processed at the station and later released on bond with a court appearance date in January.
Valley police said they made several attempts to contact Menefield about the back balance including several calls to to the residence as well as posting a notice on her door. She failed to appear in court, thus a warrant was issued for her arrest, and police claim they had no choice but to arrest her. Menefield denies receiving phone calls or seeing a notice posted on her door.
In the aftermath of this uncanny string of baffling events, a litany of national news outlets reported on the arrest through their official websites and facebook pages including the Associated Press, NBC News, CBS News, the New York Post, the Washington Post, the Today Show, Daily Beast, The Hill and NewsNation. International media picked up the story as well with coverage provided for overseas audiences by the British Broadcasting Corporation, Daily Mail, Independent UK and Romania Libera. .
Vitriol aimed at the City of Valley and its police department could be found in a tsunami of rageful remarks dispersed throughout social media platforms with an especially venomous assault taking place in the comments section of recent posts on its official facebook page.
Charges of blatant racism were leveled at the city in light of Ms. Menefield’s African-American heritage with countless statements evoking hurtful memories of slavery, Jim Crow, debtor’s prisons and segregation while relating them to the heavy handed law enforcement response which many found disproportionate to a minor infraction. Adjectives such as low down, shameful, petty, pathetic, sad and disgusting were used time and again to describe the agonizing situation and the bad actors deemed to be at fault.
Many calls were made for the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigations to get involved to explore whether Menefield’s civil rights were violated as well as demands that several city officials resign their positions and vowing to seek justice on election day if it isn’t delivered sooner.
Some commenters who are native to Alabama but have since moved away expressed embarrassment for their home state, with one quoted as saying “The state of Alabama has no compassion for people or circumstances. They love rules, and stand by them. I am not surprised. The school systems are a nightmare.”
Another post declared “Most people think Alabama is super conservative and freedom minded but it is actually one of the most irrational police states in the U.S.” Barney Fife, the hapless sheriff’s deputy from television’s fictional southern town of Mayberry, was a recurring theme in some of the more mockingly toned diatribes recalling a distant era long ago that may not be completely in the past.
I agree they should have discontinued her trash pickip. Her family should have been helping her out with making sure her bills were paid considering she is 82. I really dont understand though why everything is about racism.