Front page of The Times Tribune with the story of Eric Scott's not guilty verdict
"To this day, even though I was found innocent in one case and not prosecuted in the other, my mugshot is being used to sell advertisements and posted on multitudes of platforms on the Internet."
In 2017, shortly after I won a third term as Mayor of the City of Brookshire, Texas, I was falsely accused of assault and interfering with public duties, and falsely arrested twice. The accusations involved employees and individuals who I believe were diverting attention from their crimes, became opportunities for my political enemies to cancel me and stop the good works that were being accomplished in my minority community.
They were also being used by the media to carry out a political hit job on me, while simultaneously selling advertisements for fake, sensationalist news stories. This was carried out by the Houston Chronicle and NBC affiliate KPRC in Houston, Texas, the fourth largest city in the United States. My mother, in her 80s at the time, ended up hospitalized after a reporter assailed her at her home. The reporter's name is Joel Eisenbaum of NBC affiliate Channel 2 KPRC, which is owned by the Graham Media Group.
One of the false allegations was that after I was arrested - and the arrest information with my mugshot provided to the media - it was not prosecuted by Waller County Texas District Attorney Elton Mathis. However, he did thereafter hire one of the false accusers after the liar made his false accusation and had me arrested and ruined, replete with all the humiliation that that entails.
In the other case of false allegation and false arrest, I was found unanimously not guilty in less than thirty minutes by a jury (see the image at the top of this article). In that case, the same District Attorney and his Office applied a 19-year felonious criminal record of a man from New Jersey with the same name as me. That was discovered during the process of a second pre-trial conference. This was simultaneously posted on social media and read by thousands before it was removed and disassociated from me and the bogus criminal trial.
To this day, even though I was found innocent in one case and not prosecuted in the other, my mugshot is being used to sell advertisements and posted on multitudes of platforms on the Internet. Those, and accompanying stories, are being manipulated and misconstrued as tools to make up new posts by treacherous political opponents and other groups. In fact, algorithms are being manipulated to keep these images and stories at the top of search engines causing permanent reputation damage - and more frighteningly they pose an immediate threat to me and my family's well-being. Some of the news stories are also being clipped apart and used to create new stories to further the fake and false narratives.
Because I represented a small minority community and found my greatest support from Southern Black Baptist Churches, they too are being besmirched by the ruination of my career, character and reputation.
In what I believe was an effort to show acknowledgment of travesties of justice, an African American Baptist Seminary bestowed an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity upon me. It would be important to note that all of this occurred in Waller County Texas where Sandra Bland was found dead in her jail cell, and where shortly thereafter another African American was also found dead. This was the very jail in which I was held.
Simultaneously, the same District Attorney, Elton Mathis, and same Sheriff, Glen Smith, held Office. The two of them presented a vile hatred of me and my ability to win three elections serving as a Mayor. Having been a local State Delegate for President Barack Obama's nomination twice, the opportunity for them to smear and forever ruin me through false allegations was only strengthened.
For now, the next chapter of my life will be spent ensuring corrective actions through legislation are made in regard to false allegations and false imprisonment.
By Eric Scott
Please let us know if you think that there is a mistake in this article, explaining what you think is wrong and why. We will correct any errors as soon as possible.
Commentaires