The city manager in Athens, Tennessee, issued a statement Tuesday about an alleged violation of Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's shelter-in-place executive order that could end with action against a car show promoter who advertised and hosted an event Sunday that city officials said wasn't allowed.
"The city of Athens was first made aware of the event earlier in the week, when citizens began contacting the city to complain about the upcoming show, which was advertised as 'Destination Athens' on the Facebook page of a group called Tennessee Driven," a statement issued Tuesday by Athens City Manager Seth Sumner states.
"The event host, Austin Tyler Lang, moved the event across several properties, none of which [he had] obtained permission from the property owners [to use]. Mr. Lang also indicated several times that he had obtained 'a go' from the city, which was not true," the city statement continues. "The city had communicated with Mr. Lang earlier in the week to make clear that his proposed event directly violated the Executive Order of the Governor, making it illegal; was putting people's health at risk; and that it could not be held at Athens Regional Park. Mr. Lang eventually led the event to Athens Regional Park after being asked to leave several private properties earlier in the afternoon."
On Tuesday, Lang denied that he led anyone to the park, he hadn't planned an event there and that the move there was at the suggestion of a local law enforcement officer.
Lang said he'd read 10th Judicial District Attorney Stephen Crump's April 28 statement that his office "will no longer enforce a criminal sanction or penalty against a citizen for a violation of one of the Executive Orders of Governor Bill Lee," issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After reading the district attorney's statement and under the belief that his car show wasn't crossing any legal lines, Lang, 25, said he proceeded with the event that he said had been planned on private business property since December or January.
But the business property owners started getting calls from local residents about coronavirus worries, Lang said he was told by police who arrived at those locations.
"I was never stubborn, and I was always respectful," he said. "When police came and we were told to move, we always moved."
As the group was still looking for a place to go, Lang said another person he took to be a police officer was directing them from that location and suggested, "What about Athens Regional Park?"
Others overheard Lang's conversation with the officer "and people already started to head to that location at Athens Regional Park," he said. Most were already there when Lang arrived, he said.
"We were at Athens Regional about two-and-a-half hours," he said. About 200 cars were at the park at the height of the event.
But soon, five or six patrol cars arrived to shut down the group's music and attendees left, Lang said, noting that nothing was said about violations on Sunday.
Crump on Tuesday said Lang still could face problems despite the fact the governor's order wouldn't be enforced.
"It's possible that he gave it a broader interpretation than he should have," Crump said of Lang's reading of the April 28 statement.
"Potentially there are criminal actions involved not related to the governor's order," Crump said, noting applicable statutes involving property crimes could come into play. "My position on the orders remains exactly the same, but that does not mean that there are no rules that apply."
Crump said his office planned to "go forward and do all we can to help the city of Athens," though he remarked that any criminal offense involved probably wouldn't exceed the misdemeanor level.
In the statement issued by Sumner Tuesday, the city manager said Lang "wantonly put the health of the citizens of Athens at an increased risk, violated the law, trespassed on private property, created liabilities for the City of Athens and private property owners without care, and intentionally misled the followers of his Tennessee Driven group."
The statement said city police and employees were put at risk and their time was wasted "dealing with Mr. Lang's senseless abandon for the law and for the care of others."
The city is "exploring options for actions against Mr. Lang," the statement reads.
"My staff spent a tremendous amount of the public's time and resources following up on complaints from citizens about this event, even though we had worked with the host beforehand to make certain he was aware of the public health and legal aspects of such an event," Sumner said in the statement.
"This is an event that would otherwise be welcomed to the Friendly City, as we love to work with folks who want to bring new friends to our community," he said. "Large events take planning, making sure that liabilities are covered, and that property permission from stakeholders are obtained, unfortunately, none of those were considerations in this case."
Lang said he has heard nothing from the city since Sunday, and that he could only "wait and see" if the city makes a move against him, to which he will respond accordingly.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.