In an office with no windows, the mayor of Freddy and Michael’s town sat at his desk with a cadre of advisors surrounding him. Projecting a holographic screen onto a blank wall, the mayor ordered that his assistant roll up a video clip.
“Play the piece from last night” the mayor commanded.
Frantically scrambling with his communication device, the mayor’s assistant quickly loaded up a news clip and projected it onto the holographic screen. When an image of the newscast appeared on the wall, the mayor signaled for his assistant to begin playing it.
“And now for an unexpected story regarding the halls of power in local politics” the female newscaster began. “We have an exclusive interview with a man who says…”
The newscaster let out a giggle, before she continued speaking.
“Who says that he wants to be the next area mayor” the newscaster continued, as she giggled lightly. “Julia Chango has the story.”
“Seeing it as a joke already” the mayor thought to himself. “That’s a good sign.”
A clip of the night of Freddy’s arrest, taken from his communication device, appeared on the projected screen, with Julia speaking over it.
“This was the night that prompted an area man to decide to take on a titan in local politics.”
“Officer” Freddy can be heard saying in the clip, but without being seen “I’m allowed to record all interactions you have with the public under free speech and public recordings rights law.”
“I don’t care what you think the law is” the officer appearing in the clip replied. “You’re under arrest.”
The segment flashed to Freddy’s communication device being toppled over and darkness filling the screen.
“That was the night I decided that I wanted to run for mayor” Freddy can be seen saying in a clip from his interview.
“Freddy Benson” Jessica continued in a voiceover “a Sacramento based public defender, is launching an all but certain to be unsuccessful bid to challenge the powerful mayor of his town.”
“Good good” the mayor thought to himself while watching the clip. “They’re already playing down his candidacy. What is there to worry about?”
“For too long” Freddy continued “our city has been beholden to corrupt politicians who refuse to hold our local police department accountable.”
“He’s running on a platform of reforming the local police department” Jessica continued on in the voiceover. “A policy that’s sure to make him unpopular with many area voters.”
“I think I speak for a lot of people in my town who say that our elected officials and government employees have an obligation to work on behalf of the public, not for themselves and the special interests.”
“What do you expect to get out of this campaign?” Jessica could be seen asking Freddy in the clip. “You’re all but certain to lose this November.”
“I am optimistic person by nature. My work as a public defender has allowed me to do the unthinkable before, which has saved many innocent people from false imprisonment and jail sentences for crimes they didn’t commit.”
“Ugh” one of the mayor’s advisors could be heard saying in his office. “What an absolute scum bag.”
The mayor shushed his advisor.
“Quiet!” he demanded. “Don’t interrupt.”
“Some might see his previous efforts to defend suspected murderers and rapists as a harbinger of lax enforcement policies that will make the town unsafe” Jessica continued in a voiceover. “But Freddy Benson insists that it’ll actually make our community safer, contrary to popular opinion.”
“A fairer society will lead to less crime and a system that works for everyone, not just the few” Freddy said in his interview “I hope to make our town welcoming to all people and end the racism that leaves us with a bad reputation statewide.”
“Ugh” the mayor thought to himself. “What a communist.”
“He’s referring to area teenager, 15 year old Devon Little” Jessica continued in a voiceover “who has been arrested an astonishing thirty times over the past three years.”
“Speaking with Devon in the prison cell we shared together that night opened my eyes to a lot of the inner workings of this town” Freddy said in the interview. “The amount of times he’s been arrested and harassed by the police is at an astronomical number. White kids in our town don’t face this kind of harassment. What’s happening to Devon is directly tied to racism and is driving minorities away from wanting to live here.”
“Devon’s parents have sued the town four times over the last three years, leading to payouts of over 1 million dollars. An amount, Freddy Benson says, should be paid for by the police unions and the local politicians, not the taxpayers.”
“Uh oh” the mayor nervously thought to himself. “That’s not a bad talking point.”
“There’s a false misconception that the mayor is ‘anti-police’ because he occasionally says he’s ‘concerned’ or ‘troubled' by this pattern of arrests” Freddy said in the interview. “However, the truth is, for the last eight years of his tenure, the mayor has all but stood by silently as kids like Devon are harassed and beaten by his police, which has led to a mass exodus of non white kids from our community.”
“A stunning number” Jessica continued in a voiceover “supported by the facts. Since 2020, the town has seen an astronomical drop in the number of minority residents, from 25% of the towns population, to less than 1% today. The last remaining minorities are Devon Little and his family. Something, his parents have said, will not be the case if the harassment their son experiences on a regular basis doesn’t end.”
“Devon’s parents have already said that if this treatment by the police doesn’t stop, then they are thinking about moving away. This is not the town I grew up in. We can be better than this. I hope, if I’m elected mayor, that I can reverse this trend and make our community a place where everyone can live free of racist harassment by the police and elected officials.”
“Despite the odds being heavily out of his favor” Jessica could be seen saying to the camera “Freddy Benson hopes his campaign shines a spotlight on bad actors in government and leads to a sea change in local politics. In order to gain the trust of the public, however, his campaign is going to need to learn to be better organized. Our news team waited five days after Freddy Benson initially announced his intention to run for mayor to agree to be interviewed by our channel and then over two hours on the day of taping this segment to conduct the interview for this piece. A lack of promptness by Benson in the future is bound to raise questions about his ability to effectively lead this community. For Channel 8 news, I’m Jessica Chango. Back to you in the studio, Marsha.”
“Thanks Jessica” Marsha could be seen saying in response, before the clip was stopped.
Staring at the image of the news anchor Marsha on the wall, the mayor ordered his advisors to listen to him.
“We need to devise a strategy for dealing with this upstart troublemaker” the mayor began. “He may not seem like much of a threat now, but I don’t want to take any chances.”
“Based on the way that news segment went” one of the mayor’s advisors said “I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”
Most of the room laughed, but the mayor shushed them.
“Sir” the mayor’s assistant said “we were asked to comment on the story a few days ago, but we turned down the request.”
“Who authorized that?” the mayor asked, with a tinge of irritation in his voice.
“It’s standard policy of the office. If we don’t see a story as worthy of commenting on, then we don’t give any comments to the press.”
“The office was wise to do that” one of the mayor’s advisors said. “If we respond this socialist guy’s silly campaign, then we give him more attention than he deserves. It’s best to ignore him and let him sputter out on his own.”
“I disagree” another one of the mayor’s advisors said. “If this Freddy guy keeps getting news segments like this, people are going to start to develop an interest in him. We need to go on the attack early and shape the discussion of who he is before he has the chance to introduce him to the voters. Make him poisonous in this town now before he ever has a chance to lift his campaign off the ground.”
“Both of you have made your positions clear” the mayor said “and you both make good points. I’m going to take a vote on this now. Raise your hand if you think we should continue to ignore Freddy Benson.”
Two of the mayor’s advisors raised their hands.
“And raise your hand if you think we should go on the attack now.”
All of the mayor’s other advisors raised their hands.
“That settles that, then. We go on the attack starting tomorrow. Start with the usual talking points. He’s a communist, he hates the police, he wants to tax you down to your last dollar. However, we need more than that. I’m starting to suspect that those talking points are getting stale with voters, based on how the last midterm elections went two years ago. Let’s see if we can find some dirt on this Mr. Benson and get it circulating around town. Marley.”
“Yes sir” Marley, one of the mayor’s advisors, replied.
“Find out everything you can about this Freddy guy, his family and his background. Report it back to me by tomorrow evening.”
“Yes sir.”
“And as for the rest of you, build up the attack machine asap. Call Douglas Ron and have his newspapers ramp up the attacks. Get the police union leader, Peter McDonough, on the phone. Let’s get into operation and take this son of a bitch down.”
The mayor’s advisors concurred, as they got up and left his office. One of them stayed behind and whispered in his ear.
“Sir, I think you’re making a mistake. Overreacting like this could backfire on you spectacularly. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Nonsense, Bob. I’ve been mayor of this town for eight years now. I’ve won two previous elections decidedly and have this town under my full control. My advisors are the best of the best and we know what we’re doing here. You’re worrying needlessly.”
“I just think that this could actually draw public sympathy for this guy Freddy” Bob replied “and lead voters to want to vote for him as a referendum on you. You’re running for a third term and incumbents in positions like this have trouble securing reelection at this point in their careers. You should really act more cautiously or people might support this guy as a vote against you.”
“I don’t agree. If we tar and feather him now, it’ll make it so that people can’t vote for him, even if they want to vote against me. Trust me on this, Bob.”
“Just be careful, sir.”
The mayor’s advisor Bob stood up and left the mayor’s office. In his solitude, the mayor quietly lost himself in thought.
“I don’t like this Freddy guy one bit. He’s giving me the creeps. Bob might be right that this could be an overreaction and we’re attacking him too strongly, too fast, but I can’t afford to take any chances. A lot is riding on the line for me, especially if that bastard should win and then put pressure on the DA to investigate my dealings in office. He has to be stopped now, by any means necessary.”
Back at Freddy and Michael’s house….