A former staffer for expelled Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White was arrested Tuesday near the end of a forum for the July 15 special election to replace White. White, who lost his council seat after he was indicted on bribery charges, was the only invited candidate not in attendance at the forum on Monday night.
DC police arrested Eric Cleckley, who also filed the initial paperwork to run in the special election, at 7:30 PM at the Union Temple Baptist Church where the forum was held, according to an affidavit filed in DC Superior Court. Cleckley, who served as a constituent services coordinator for White, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of threats to kidnap or injure after he began shouting at a fellow forum attendee, Ronald Williams Jr.
When asked for comment Cleckley wrote Washingtonian that he was advised by counsel “not to speak on the situation at this time sorry” and directed this reporter to his Instagram—where he had posted a story stating: “I’m innocent #LLDuke.”
Williams, in the affidavit, told the cops he was running for White’s old seat (we were unable to find any evidence of that) and believes Cleckley began yelling at him because he had been “mean mugging” Cleckley during the debate. Toward the end of the debate, the affidavit says, Cleckley “got up” in Williams’s face and yelled at him and told him to meet Cleckley outside, which Williams took as indication that Cleckley wanted to fight him. Cleckley then followed the Williams to the lobby of the building and, according to a witness interviewed by the police, told Williams he would knock him out. The police say they arrested and charged Cleckley because he and Williams were “likely to see each other at future political debates.”
The arrest is one of the latest (but relatively minor) developments in an ongoing saga after White was indicted on bribery charges last summer for taking cash from an informant in exchange for pressuring city agencies to offer government contracts to the informant’s company. Since then, White has won reelection, been expelled from the city council, and announced plans to run again in the special election. While White enjoys strong support in Ward 8—he won reelection with 84 percent of the vote, after the bribery indictment—there hasn’t been an open primary for the seat since 2014.
The field for the special election is already crowded: three prominent Democrats, Salim Adofo, Mike Austin, and Sheila Bunn, were invited to and attended the Monday night forum. At the forum they all raised their hands when asked by moderator Tom Sherwood if the DC Council should re-expel White were he to win reelection, according to Washington City Paper.
Adofo, an advisory neighborhood commissioner, challenged White in the primary last year. Austin, who served alongside Adofo on an ANC, was the legislative director for former Ward 8 Councilmember LaRuby May, and his website highlights his policy work on economic development in Ward 8. Bunn, who served as chief of staff for former Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray, touts her role as an advisory board member on the initiative to redevelop St. Elizabeths East hospital, which reopened this spring.
The next candidate forum will be held Saturday, June 21, by the Ward 8 Democrats. Election day is July 15 and early voting will be held July 11 to July 14.
