For several reasons, last week was not a good week for 3rd Ward Alderman Brandon Bosley.
Let’s start with another conundrum that Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner finds herself facing again. Last week, KSDK obtained a copy of the police report from a December incident involving Bosley and a woman who Bosley originally identified as an alleged carjacker. However, gas station security footage obtained by the SLMPD showed Bosley’s car – with Bosley driving it – striking the woman and driving away. Additional footage from the gas station confirmed that Bosley was the driver of the vehicle as it left.
The infamous Facebook Live video that he recorded was actually evidence of Bosley’s crime against the woman, made only minutes after Bosley hit her with his vehicle, and showing the woman dazed and barely responsive to the elected official’s abusive, misogynistic insults toward her. Until last week, the public knew only Bosley’s side and that the initial criminal charges were suddenly dismissed by Gardner’s office on January 3, after forcing the woman to (wrongfully) spend the holidays in jail and miss time with her family. Gardner’s office claims that it obtained the footage on January 2.
But herein lies Gardner’s problem: the security footage existed at the time her office egregiously criminally charged the woman now recognized to be the victim. There’s a likelihood that the SLMPD had a copy, or at least knew, of the security footage on the day the victim was charged. Nevertheless, Gardner’s office seemingly failed to confirm with the SLMPD any of the details before proceeding to file a set of felonies against the woman (attempted robbery and armed criminal action). We would call it “prosecutorial misconduct” if this entire situation didn’t scream incompetency.
In other words, Gardner’s office filed charges against a victim who was assaulted by an alderman, who lied about the entire incident, based only on Bosley’s statements. This also means that, while Gardner’s office relied on the security footage to dismiss the charges against the woman, they could have used the same footage to pursue the person who hit her with his car. Despite having no evidence, Gardner’s office criminally charged the victim. But even with video footage and license plate readers confirming what really happened, Bosley will apparently face no consequences.
EYE-colytes will recall our January 5 column, only a month ago, where we first reported that the SLMPD had referred criminal charges against Bosley to Circuit Attorney Gardner. We had hoped then that Gardner’s office would have taken a step toward gaining justice for this victim. Alderwoman Sharon Tyus, armed with all the wrong facts, even threatened our publication – but only the EYE saw the truth. While our sources had not shared what was referred, we learned last week that the SLMPD recommended that Gardner’s office criminally charge Bosley with filing a false police report, assault, and unlawful use of a weapon.
We will wait patiently for Alderwoman Tyus’ – and everyone else’s – apology to the woman who was assaulted by Alderman Bosley. We also hope that Circuit Attorney Gardner will charge the right person this time, and that the woman finds justice. In the meantime, Gardner’s misaction and inaction unfortunately feed right into Missouri House Republican’s otherwise meritless arguments to remove some of her authority as prosecutor.
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Bosley’s woes last week didn’t stop there. The Post-Dispatch finally named “Public Official 1” from the now-unsealed federal indictments of former aldermen Lewis Reed, Jeffrey Boyd, and John Collins Muhammad. We’ve heard the rumors identifying Clay since the indictments were released to the public last summer, but several sources confirmed to reporters that “Public Official 1” is former congressman, Lacy Clay.
According to federal documents, Clay was offered the largest single bribe that was made throughout the case. Clay met with the FBI’s informant and Collins Muhammad in June 2020 – in the middle of the Democratic primary against now-Congresswoman Cori Bush – and Clay accepted an envelope with $10,000 in cash inside. Clay left the gas station with the money, but came back later to return the money to the informant. “I usually take checks,” Clay was recorded saying to the informant. As reported in the Post Dispatch, the checks, never cashed, seemed to have been given to Darryl Piggee, a Clay ex-chief of staff who was also treasurer of Clay’s PAC.
Bosley was also identified in the federal indictments as another alderman who accepted a cash bribe through an associate. He also met with Collins Muhammad and the federal informant, and Bosley directed the informant to make a $2,000 payment to another person in exchange for a letter of support on a 15-year tax abatement. Less than a week later, Bosley wrote a letter of support for the tax abatement of the informant’s property.
Both Clay and Bosley seem oblivious to the fact that the informant likely was wearing a wire during these interactions, similar to his interactions with Reed, Boyd, and Collins Muhammad. Clay was even recorded noting the video cameras in the informant’s office. Nevertheless, Clay denied meeting with the informant at all; Bosley admits that he met with the informant but “rejected offers of cash bribes.”
Neither Clay nor Bosley have been charged at the time of this reporting.
The St. Louis Business Journal reported that University City officials are defending their hiring of Clay as a federal lobbyist and that the former congressman has indicated that was not him.
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Tyus, on the other hand, has been spending possibly her last few days in office blocking critical funding for North St. Louis. Despite running to represent residents of the new 12th Ward, Tyus managed to whip every Black alderperson – with the exception of Alderpersons James Page, Norma Walker, Jesse Todd, and Tina Pihl – into voting against increased ward capital funds. This vote undoubtedly would have helped both voters and incumbents, especially Tyus, who faces a serious challenger, small business owner and Revitalization of Baden Association leader Tashara Earl.
Why Tyus opposed the ward capital increase legislation is puzzling, especially considering that the new 12th Ward would receive the second-highest distribution of funds to all of the wards. Specifically, her ward would have received 15.9%, more than double of what an “equal” share would have been (around 7.1%). Ward capital funds are allocated to each ward every year, from a general tax pool, for the individual alderperson to determine how to spend. This is how potholes are fixed, how burnt-out street lamps get new bulbs, and how residential neighborhoods thrive without forming a special taxing district.
Historically, ward capital funds have been distributed equally to each ward, instead of equitably. This is where the Northside neighborhoods have been left behind. Aldermanic President Megan Green introduced Board Bill 183, which would have allocated more than 60% of ward capital funds to North St. Louis wards as a way to address historic city policies that caused divestment in those neighborhoods.
Nevertheless, the alderwoman’s intentional efforts to derail this more equitable ward capital funding reallocation also resulted in Tyus forfeiting around $2 million of “unencumbered” ward capital funds – public dollars that she should have been spending for residents of her current ward – reverting back to the general pool to be redistributed to other wards. “Unencumbered” means that the alderperson has not designated how those funds would be spent within their ward. We’re sure residents of the 12th Ward can think of a few sidewalks or alleys in need of repair.
Tyus’ actions this week may have cost her constituents more than $3 million in public dollars to which they would have been entitled. Despite generations of divestment in North St. Louis, Sharon Tyus has led the way to deepen that divestment without giving her voters a reason why. Maybe she can let us know between now and Election Day.
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Finally, last week we reported that control of the Rockwood School District had been usurped by two extremist school board members who have been more focused on waging culture wars rather than providing quality public education to St. Louis County children.
This week, we have learned that the District itself is the subject of at least two pending discrimination suits: one in state court for refusing to accommodate an employee with a disability, filed only a few weeks ago, and at least one pending in federal court – also related to a failure-to-accomodate claim and filed in November. If the allegation of these two cases are any indication, the Rockwood School District may have serious issues supporting staff members with marginalized backgrounds.
Considering the concerning number of district employees who have resigned in a relatively short period of time – the majority citing ongoing harassment and threats of harm stemming from a specific group of parents, the MAGA-influenced “Concerned Parents of Rockwood” – we wouldn’t be surprised if more discrimination-based lawsuits emerge in the coming weeks.
If Black and disabled staff members are not welcome or safe at Rockwood, we aren’t sure how the district can serve and protect its Black and disabled students