Chattanooga activist Marie Mott arrested, charged with harassment after argument with boyfriend

Patrick Filbin, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
·2 min read

Aug. 3—Local activist and former Chattanooga City Council candidate Marie Mott was arrested Friday on a harassment charge after her boyfriend called police and reported Mott had threatened him.

On Thursday, July 29, Mott's boyfriend called the police and an officer responded to a domestic assault call. When officers arrived, the boyfriend told police that Mott had threatened she would call the police on him and would make false reports against him.

The boyfriend tried to record Mott on his cellphone when she was in his "personal space," but she allegedly grabbed his hands and forearms and tried to grab his phone. After the two wrestled for the phone, the boyfriend got in his car and tried to drive away. That's when Mott allegedly grabbed onto the door handle to stop him from leaving.

The boyfriend eventually got away and called the police. He told officers Mott had been threatening him with violence, told him she would call the police on him as "payback," and threatened to send gang members to his house in retaliation, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

The boyfriend also told police Mott had called the human resources department at his place of work, contacted his coworkers and his boss "multiple times."

"Ms. Mott has negatively affected [the boyfriend's] work environment, causing tension and even an investigation due to her contact," the affidavit reads.

There were no visual signs of physical harm on the boyfriend, though he feared "escalation of the ongoing incidents."

The affidavit also said a similar incident unfolded between the two on July 3 "with Ms. Mott being the aggressor," and similar incidents had escalated over the past two months.

In April, Senior Judge Don Ash dismissed two charges against Mott and fellow activist Cameron Williams, leaders of last summer's racial injustice protests in Chattanooga, and sent their remaining charges to the grand jury.

Mott, Williams and six other protesters still face multiple misdemeanor charges stemming from two separate July incidents: the burning of a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office flag and the blocking of an emergency vehicle.

Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.