NEWBERN, Ala. — We introduced Patrick Braxton last week, who said he was barred from entering town hall in 2020 after being Newbern’s first Black mayor.
“I want to see this town grow and everyone can come together and be created equal,” Braxton said.
LaQuenna Lewis’ NGO in the neighborhood operates a community food bank.
When she approached Braxton last year to use his church for a distribution location, she was surprised to learn of his political situation.
“It broke my heart because, in my eyes, hey, we’re in 2023. What do you mean you’re being locked out of city hall?” Lewis asked.
As a result, Lewis assisted Braxton in hiring a counsel.
The lawyer filed a case in November against Newbern’s former mayor, who is white, and the predominantly white town council.
Braxton claimed that they were preventing him from serving his hometown because he was Black.
The former mayor and council members refute these allegations.
They even asserted that Braxton was disqualified from being mayor by the Alabama attorney general and that their actions had nothing to do with race.
Lewis got an envelope containing an anonymous four-page hate-themed threat two weeks after Braxton filed his lawsuit.
It contains harsh language and racial insults and names Lewis and who they refer to as ‘non-mayor’ Braxton.
According to the author, if they do not get “out of my town,” they will “die or be burned down.”
They also claimed to be keeping an eye on Lewis’ four children and her new residence.
“I was very fearful of my life, my family’s life. More than anything, I was upset, in all honesty, that it went that far,” Lewis said.
Lewis’ historic Selma home had burned down two months before.
So far, she claims that investigators have told her that the cause is unknown.
The final page of the hate mail even included a drawing of Lewis and Braxton being lynched with swastikas for eyes.
Lewis believes the provocative photographs are aimed at her role in Braxton’s court battle.
“I feel like I received the hate mail because of the steps that I took to make sure that some awareness was brought to it,” she said.
Nobody knows who sent Lewis the threat.
She claims to have turned over the notes to the FBI and pledges that they will not hinder her mission to make a difference.
“I would like to see change, and I’m determined to make sure that that happens,” she said.
The FBI will not confirm or deny whether or not an official investigation had been launched.
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