POLITICS
Who is Trayon White? DC Council member arrested by FBI and why he has been detained?
The 40-year-old Democrat was taken into federal custody at the 1000 South Capitol luxury apartment complex in southeast DC.
According to various sources, DC Council member Trayon White was arrested in mysterious circumstances by the FBI on Sunday, August 18.
Few details have been made public, with the reason for the 40-year-old Democrat’s arrest unknown at present. The FBI have so far refused to comment.
The circumstances surrounding Trayon White’s arrest
Per Washington-based television station WUSA9, White was taken into federal custody in one of the penthouse units at the 1000 South Capitol luxury apartment complex in southeast DC, with other residents reporting the FBI had raided the 10K Hill South apartment building.
WUSA9 also revealed the residents had received the following email about the incident, which also gives little away: “We wanted to inform you about a recent police presence at 10K Hill South. Please be assured that this was a localized procedure and does not pose any risk to our community. If you have any questions or need assistance, our team is available at the front desk to help with anything you may need. Thank you for your attention, and we appreciate your cooperation.”
Speaking to NBC Washington, Seun Sanusi, who lives in the complex, said: “To be honest, this is actually not the first time the FBI has been to our building. So the FBI being here is not surprising.”
A video filmed by the same outlet also showed agents attempting to get into White’s car, a silver Tesla with DC council licence plates.
Who is Trayon White? Background and political career
White, who was born in DC in May 1984, was elected to represent Ward 8 of the Distict of Columbia, statistically the poorest in the city, in 2016, assuming office at the beginning of 2017. In June, he won the Democratic primary for what would be his third term.
As reported by the Washington Post at the time, White endured a difficult childhood, growing up in a “troubled Ward 8 household where there wasn’t always food to eat, where drugs and violence cast a pall outside his window and where his school uniform was rarely cleaned.”
Initially raised by his mother after his father abandoned the family, he went to live with his grandmother for a spell but was sent to an overcrowded apartment with his cousins after getting into trouble with the police.
White stole cars as a teenager but began “changing on the inside” after he started going to church following the death of an influential school teacher. Now, he is seen as an emblem of hope for Ward 8′s troubled youth, with ex-convicts and youngsters from some of southeast DC’s most dangerous streets among his supporters.
White’s infamous “the Rothschilds control the weather” comment
In March 2018, five-foot two inch White was forced to apologise after claiming the Rothschilds, a famous Jewish business dynasty, controlled and manipulated the weather.
“Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man,” White was heard saying in a video. “Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation.
“And DC keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.”
He later took to social media to retract his remarks: “I really do apologise,” he said on X. “I work very closely with the Jewish community and never want to offend anyone, especially with Anti-Semitic remarks.”