This is what we're consenting to if we say/do nothing. If you think this does not affect you, where you live, I beg you to reconsider. Tyranny will spread like a cancer.
Date & Location: July 18, 2025 — Clarksburg, West Virginia
Involved: Officer Elijah Helsley, Clarksburg Police Department; the individual detained, Aaron Mayfield
A city resident requested a welfare check after observing Mr. Mayfield behaving erratically on the sidewalk. While he was not suspected of any crime or posing a threat to others, law enforcement officers attempted to detain him for his own safety. Mr. Mayfield passively resisted by locking his arms together; he did not threaten, strike, or verbally assault officers.
Once subdued and on the ground, Officer Helsley repeatedly punched Mr. Mayfield in the face and slammed his head against the curb, even while other officers were restraining him. Multiple video recordings captured the violent behavior, prompting national attention and prompting local media coverage.
Following public release of the footage, the Clarksburg Police Department placed Officer Helsley on administrative leave while an internal investigation is conducted. Officials have stated that appropriate action will follow upon completion of the inquiry.
Police officers are public servants funded by taxpayer dollars, entrusted to protect and serve the community—not inflict bodily harm on those they detain. The behavior exhibited by Officer Helsley raises significant constitutional concerns, particularly regarding excessive force under the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable seizures and violence by law enforcement. At no point did Mr. Mayfield present a threat justifying such aggression.
Moreover, the failure to document or acknowledge the violent actions in the official report raises concerns about transparency and departmental accountability. This omission suggests a troubling culture that may permit or conceal abuse rather than confront it openly.
While focused on one incident, this case reflects a deeper problem—a culture within the Clarksburg Police Department that appears tolerant of, or dismissive toward, excessive and unjustified force. These actions directly undermine public trust in institutions that are funded and sustained by taxpayers.
Taxpayers should not bear the burden of enforcement that violates their rights. The Clarksburg Police Department, in this instance, is using taxpayer funds to facilitate brutality, not protection—a fundamental betrayal of public service.
This platform doesn’t just connect individuals to government — it builds collective momentum. With every mailed letter, the pressure grows. With every update to the counter, the will of the people becomes harder to dismiss. In a digital age where real voices are often buried by algorithms and inbox filters, we’re bringing civic engagement back into the physical world — where it has weight, friction, and undeniable presence.
Our only goal is to facilitate this objective by making it easier to exert pressure using physical paper to express dissatisfaction when the government actors that we pay to serve us, are extorting, abusing, and violating the rights of WE THE PEOPLE. If you are so inclined to print and mail this yourself, please feel free to do this. We are not gatekeepers, only facilitators! If you feel the weight of this logistical challenge, for less than the price of adding air to your tires, we will: print, fold, stuff, stamp, and USPS mail your grievance on your behalf.
All pressure is good pressure, feel free to copy and paste our grievance into an email if you're not concerned with exerting the physical weight of a paper document on your public servants.
Tiffany Fell, Clarksburg City Manager
Mark Kiddy, Clarksburg Police Chief
222 W Main Street
Clarksburg, WV 26301
I am writing to file a formal grievance concerning a deeply disturbing incident involving Officer Elijah Helsley of the Clarksburg Police Department, which took place on July 18, 2025. The incident—captured on widely circulated video—shows Officer Helsley repeatedly punching a subdued individual, Aaron Mayfield, in the face while he was already restrained on the ground by multiple officers.
This conduct is not only excessive and violent—it is a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable seizures and the use of excessive force. Mr. Mayfield was not suspected of a crime, posed no threat to public safety, and was being detained during a welfare check—a non-criminal situation.
Even more concerning is that the official police report failed to mention this brutal use of force. Such omission raises serious red flags about the integrity, transparency, and internal accountability of the department.
This was not merely misconduct by one rogue officer. This event, carried out in public and now documented, reveals the presence of a dangerous culture—one that tolerates brutality, suppresses truth, and shields bad actors behind closed doors. That should alarm not just the residents of Clarksburg, but every person in this nation.
Why? Because what happens in Clarksburg does not stay in Clarksburg. Officers who abuse their power in one department often resurface in another. When we allow these systems of unaccountable violence to persist in one city, we send a signal that abuse is tolerated everywhere. If residents of Clarksburg must fund their own abuse through tax dollars, how long until the same happens in our own towns?
We do not pay public servants to abuse, intimidate, and silence us—we pay them to uphold our rights and protect our communities. This kind of behavior betrays that duty.
I am calling for:
This is not just a demand for justice in one case—it is a call to prevent the spread of unchecked abuse. If we do not confront injustice at its source, we allow it to metastasize across the country. We owe it to ourselves, and to each other, to ensure our public institutions serve us—not harm us.
Sincerely,
[Concerned Citizen's Name]
[City, State]