A Hamilton County General Sessions judge during a scheduling hearing Tuesday declined to entertain the prospect of dismissing charges against a group of local George Floyd protesters before he's had a chance to hear the evidence against them.
Members of the small group of protesters, led by Marie Mott and Cameron "C-Grimey" Williams, face multiple charges stemming from two separate July incidents: the burning of a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office flag and the blocking of an emergency vehicle.
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Gary Starnes ordered the preliminary hearing to be moved to Oct. 8 so that all of the cases could be handled on one day.
Before the hearing ended, Mott's attorney McCracken Poston asked the judge to consider dismissing his client's charges and said attorneys for the other protesters would likely join such a request.
"These types of things happened all over the country in several cities," he said. "Some cities are taking the position to not prosecute with understanding what the country was going through and the shock that everybody was feeling."
Protests across the nation broke out after the May 25 death of Floyd, a Black man, under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Mott and Williams led the local demonstrations.
Prosecutor Larry Ables chimed in to let the judge know the Hamilton County District Attorney's Office would be opposed to a motion to dismiss.
"I'm not going to dismiss any cases today," Starnes said.
During the Oct. 8 hearing, prosecutors will lay out the evidence against the protesters, and Starnes will then decide whether to dismiss the charges or send them to a grand jury. A grand jury would take another look at the evidence and vote on whether to formally indict the defendants.
While it's not clear exactly what evidence investigators have, as the cases are still active, police have released a still image of body camera footage that shows protesters blocking the intersection of Market and East Main streets and preventing the passage of a Hamilton County EMS vehicle on July 10.
The vehicle was that of a lieutenant, the Times Free Press previously reported. Lieutenants respond to calls because they receive additional training that regular paramedics don't have, especially traumatic incidents involving procedures that clear a patient's airway. In this case, the lieutenant was attempting to get to a motorcycle crash with severe injuries.
Mott, Williams and a group of at least six other protesters were charged by Chattanooga police with disorderly conduct and blocking a highway.
In the flag-burning case, the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office obtained arrest warrants for Mott, Williams and one other protester after Mott and others took to social media to admit to removing the flag and burning it. All three are charged with theft, vandalism, reckless burning and incitement to riot in connection with that case.
In both cases, no one was arrested immediately. Arrest warrants were obtained two days later.
Mott is also running for a Chattanooga City Council seat.
Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.