KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE (April 10): On Wednesday, a Knox County jury returned verdicts in the case of a group accused of disrupting a Knox County Commission meeting in April 2021 as they pushed for the release of police bodycam footage in the fatal police shooting of an Austin-East High School student.
Constance Every was found guilty, while the other three facing charges -- Aaron Valentine, the Rev. Calvin Skinner and Gavin Guinn -- were found not guilty.
Knoxville attorney Josh Hedrick, who represented Valentine, issued a brief statement after the verdict.
"We are grateful for the jury's careful attention to the facts of the case and are pleased with their verdict. We hope that in the future all citizens of Knox County will feel like they are heard by their representatives," said an attorney for one of the defendants found not guilty.
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Four people accused of disrupting a Knox County Commission meeting in April 2021 are facing a jury of their peers this week in Knox County Criminal Court.
Constance Every, the Rev. Calvin Skinner, Arron Valentine and Gavin Guinn entered the April 19, 2021, meeting intent on pushing for release of police bodycam video recorded the week previous when an Austin-East High School student was shot to death during a confrontation with Knoxville Police Department officers, defense attorneys say.
Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen was overseeing the investigation into the shooting of 17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. by a KPD officer. Thompson had a loaded pistol at the time during the confrontation in an Austin-East bathroom.
Knox County and the County Commission didn't control the shooting investigation. Allen is an independently elected state official.
The meeting disruption charge is a misdemeanor. Seven people originally were charged; the cases for three have been resolved, according to prosecutors.
Senior Judge D. Kelly Thomas, a former longtime appellate court judge from East Tennessee, is hearing the case.
Jurors were seated Monday afternoon and the state began calling witnesses. The trial is expected to take two or three days.
Deputy District Attorney General Sean McDermott told jurors in his opening statement that video recorded of the meeting will speak for itself.
Using a bullhorn, Every keyed the siren function on the device and then declared in the commission meeting, "Your meeting is over," McDermott said.
Extra law enforcement had been assigned to the meeting. Commission Chair Larsen Jay recessed it after Every spoke.
McDermott told the jury they can decide while watching the defendants on video if they were engaged in a "peaceful" process or something else. Social media posts ahead of the meeting encouraged people to gather to shut it down, the prosecutor said.
As deputies quickly removed her from the room, Every called law enforcement "------- murderers," McDermott said. Knox County Sheriff's Office deputies weren't involved in Thompson's shooting at Austin-East.
Defense attorneys countered that the misdemeanor charges against the four amounted to government overkill.
Some of their clients never even said anything after entering the room, lawyers said. One just raised his fist.
The defendants were frustrated because they wanted answers about what had happened to Thompson in the bathroom, the defense said. They chose the commission meeting as a venue to try to force an answer, said attorney Mike Whalen, representing Skinner.
Attorney Josh Hedrick, who represents Valentine, said he was engaging in civil disobedience.
"It's not a crime to tell your government, I want things done differently," Hedrick said.
Attorney Andrew Beamer, representing Every, said his client was "guilty of pissing off the police."
