Rapper Trae Tha Truth announced on his Instagram that he visited Alabama to meet up with an elderly woman who was arrested for not paying a $77 trash bill. Officers took in Martha Louis Menefield, 82, on November 27 for failing to pay her small bill, as shown in a Twitter video. Reportedly, she had three months of statements backed, and although she was released on bond, Trae felt – like many others – that she was treated wrongly. On December 28, he shared Instagram photos of himself and Menefield to bring awareness to her case and the GoFundMe he created for her.
TW: Police released bodycam footage of their arrest of an 82-year-old Alabama woman who was not able to pay her $77 trash bill.
“I’m so serious, it’s a warrant,” the officer told her during the arrest, while laughing https://t.co/VuTArIqosi pic.twitter.com/WOF5rpUJkJ
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 23, 2022
The post was captioned, “Made A Quick Flight and Pulled Up On Mrs. Martha Menefield…. She won’t go thru what she went through again. Her Energy Keep U In Good Spirits….. We Can Do Our Best To Help Change Her Life…. You Can Donate To Her Directly … Link In My Bio,”
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The GoFundMe link mentioned explained a little bit of what Menefield had gone through in the past weeks, requesting assistance for “incurred expenses for [her] home,” and some financial assistance for “vision issues.” It has since garnered $34,000 in donations, surpassing the initial goal.
Trae introduced his followers to the grandmother in a video featuring the Houston rapper and a friend. He explained, “Hey. Yeah, what up? We made it to Valley, Alabama, me and the homie, Lake. But I got a friend I want y’all to meet. She wanted to tell y’all a few words.” He then gave Menefield a chance to talk to those who were helping them support her.
“You just don’t know how much they have blessed me today … and other people too. I thank everybody else that’s helped me too. This is just the beginning. Y’all have blessed me, and I thank you so much.”
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Trae, whose real name is Frazier Othel Thompson III, brought awareness to a longstanding issue Menefield has had with officials for a while. According to CBS 2, her arrest warrant was issued after she failed to make a court appearance. Despite several people trying to pay the bill for her, no one was allowed to until January. Many in the community expressed anger at how she was treated in the video and before it.
