A Chattanooga city councilman filed a police report earlier this month after a local activist's Facebook Live video made him feel concerned for his safety and that of his family.
Councilman Anthony Byrd called police on April 8 after seeing the video, recorded six hours earlier by Marie Mott, in which she "speaks ill" of the councilman, according to the incident report obtained by the Times Free Press.
In the video, Mott claims Byrd threatened his neighbor, whose son was killed in 2018, while trying to "mediate" between her and "another involved party," after the woman appeared on Mott's radio show. The mother has been seeking answers as to why her son's death was ruled as justified, meaning no suspects were charged.
Byrd disputes Mott's claim, saying he didn't make any such threats.
"I love my neighbor and I love her kids, and I will continue to do everything I can to help her get an understanding of what happened [to her son]," Byrd told the Times Free Press.
Because of the alleged threats, Mott, in her video, goes on to call for men in East Chattanooga to "drive by [the woman's] residence to provide protection while ensuring that interested parties knew that Councilman Byrd lived directly across the street," the incident report states.
By that evening, Byrd noticed "an increase in traffic in the area and parties sitting at or near the neighbor's residence," according to the report.
That worried Byrd. He feared people may take Mott's comments as reason to take violent action against him or his family, the report states.
"The perception that was put out created me to be a monster or someone that was unhuman or [without] compassion," Byrd said.
And after his friends and family saw some threatening comments in response to the video, they decided the "proper thing to do was make a record of it."
But Mott said that threatening him was not her intention. It was "to hold him accountable," she said.
"Nobody threatened his safety. If he's in danger, that falls into his own hands," she said. "The people riding down the street were to make sure [the neighbor] was OK."
Regardless, Byrd's house was "placed on the watch list" and a surveillance patrol car was parked on his property.
Mott said she was not contacted by police at any point.
The Hamilton County District Attorney's Office declined to pursue any charges, and the case was closed and filed as "miscellaneous information."
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