Virtual Ministry Archive

BREAKING🚨 Texas police JAILED a woman over a Facebook post about their BROWN water. Now the state has SHUT DOWN the entire town’s police department. Jennifer Combs, a mother of four who runs a local Facebook page, posted about disturbing reports coming out of Trinidad, Texas. “We have received reports that some citizens have been hospitalized due to bacteria in the water,” she wrote, asking residents to send photos and information about their water so she could bring complaints to state officials. Within SIX MINUTES, the town’s police chief had forwarded a screenshot of her post to an investigator. That same day, police posted a warning on their own Facebook page, accusing her of spreading false information and warning that such reports could be a felony. Police then turned to the very contractor Trinidad was paying to operate its troubled water system. He gave investigators a statement disputing Jennifer’s reports. Residents have been complaining about brown drinking water for years, and two weeks after Jennifer’s post, the town issued a BOIL-WATER NOTICE. Police even shared it on Facebook. But officers kept pursuing Jennifer… They showed up at her home, HANDCUFFED her in her own front yard, and threw her in jail on a felony charge. She spent 23 HOURS locked up, accused of spreading false information that caused "fear and panic" over the town's drinking water. The police chief insisted it was a “very cut and dry case.” But a grand jury refused to indict her, and a judge accused officers of withholding critical information about residents’ water complaints when seeking a warrant. The police chief resigned, and Texas investigators then examined his department, finding more than 20 deficiencies. The state concluded it “was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community.” Texas has now shut down the entire Trinidad Police Department. The town just issued another boil water notice.