When a private citizen criticizes an elected official, that is not a crime. It is one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans.

But on August 11, 2026, Mayor Clay Madden filed a report with the Mandeville Police Department, creating an official police record involving Robert “Trey” Berning III, a local businessman who had become an outspoken critic of the mayor and his administration.

The report alleged no criminal wrongdoing. It identified no threat of violence. It requested no police investigation.

So why was the Mandeville Police Department involved at all?

The sequence is simple:

• August 11, 2026: Madden files a police report involving a private citizen who had publicly criticized him. The report alleges no crime and requests no investigation.
• August 13, 2026: Less than 48 hours later, William Kropog, Madden’s friend and publisher of Mandeville Daily, submits a public-records request specifically identifying the report.
• August 25–26, 2026: Mandeville Daily publishes and updates an article that uses the report to portray Berning as concerning and dangerous.

We are being asked to believe that the mayor filed a police report alleging no crime and that, entirely by coincidence, the mayor’s friend discovered and specifically requested it within 48 hours.

That explanation is difficult to accept.

This coordinated effort by Madden and Kropag is how city government becomes an instrument of lawfare: public authority and taxpayer-funded institutions are used not to address an actual crime, but to burden, intimidate, or discredit a political opponent. When a police report alleging no wrongdoing becomes material for a public smear, the process itself becomes the punishment.

No resident should have to fear that criticizing the mayor could place their name in an official police record, subject them to damaging publicity, or force them to defend themselves against conduct that was never alleged to be criminal.

Mr. Berning publicly opposed Mayor Madden and criticized his administration. Whether Madden liked the message or its delivery is irrelevant. Berning had the right to express it.

Madden also believes Berning was responsible for critical websites and anonymous mailers attacking his administration. Yet the police report provides no evidence that Berning created, funded, or distributed them. The mayor’s suspicions do not justify using the police department to place a political critic’s name in an official record and publicly portray him as dangerous.

Madden should have answered the criticism publicly, defended his decisions, or produced evidence supporting his accusations. Instead, he brought the police department into a political dispute.

Once someone’s name is placed in a police report and publicly associated with danger, the damage is done, even when no crime is alleged. This is what lawfare looks like at the local level: using an official process to intimidate, discredit, and punish a political opponent.

Americans have already seen these tactics used against President Donald Trump: investigations, official proceedings, and government institutions weaponized to damage a political opponent when political debate alone was not enough. Now Mandeville residents needs to know the same playbook is being used here.