After Stromayer’s March 2020 statement and Sells’ February dismissal, David Burger continued trying to get help for Kelvin. His emails weren’t about documents or grammar anymore. They were about survival.
March 16, 2020:
“So Brian,
Is it something typical for an American Citizen to sit and wait at the Embassy for four hours waiting to speak to an Eric William? Then told that he’s not at the embassy and on travel?
How does this Embassy work? Why is it open if an American Citizen can’t speak to anyone?”
No response.
March 19, 2020:
“Can I get a response or aren’t American Citizens important enough to you people?”
No response.
March 23, 2020:
“An Inspector of the Togo Police department has helped my partner, but is now holding my partner hostage in his house, the Inspectors name is Michael Agbemenya, and lives in Agoe… He has left on travel and left no food for my partner.
My partner has not eaten in 3 days.
How and who can I contact with the Togo Authorities to have them help my partner?”
No response.
May 26, 2020, two months later:
“Brian,
Since you and this embassy ignored my partner when he waited there for over 6 hours before your people finally told him the person he needed to speak to was away on travel.. was he ignored because he was black? Or fake people showing up at the embassy?
How do I contact Secretary Pompeo to discuss how my partner was treated? I’m sure he’d like to hear of a pending lawsuit…
My partner is being held captive by a so called cop there by the name of Michael Agbemenya he works at the Agor central police station
Michael has thrown my partner out of his house and making him live outside, with no food and Michael told his security guy not to allow Kelvin to leave the grounds..
Waiting to hear from you”
No response.
Brian Sells never answered these emails. Neither did anyone else at the U.S. Embassy in Lomé.
An American veteran was being held hostage by a Togolese police officer. He hadn’t eaten in days. He was sleeping outside.
The U.S. Embassy’s response was silence.
Because Ambassador Stromayer had already told Kelvin that “Americans aren’t Black,” and Brian Sells had already determined he was a scam. What happened to him after that didn’t matter.
The Coordinated Narrative: September 2020
When Brian Sells left his post in Lomé, the “romance scam” determination didn’t leave with him. It was passed along.
Daniel Neptune, Acting Consular Chief, September 13, 2020:
“West African scammers are often not Togolese but rather Nigerian or Ghanaian scammers running their fraud rackets and banking through Togo.”
Neptune, who now works as a Supervisory Passport Specialist at the Los Angeles Passport Agency, maintained the embassy’s position. He never investigated. He simply reinforced the script that had been established under Stromayer and Sells.