Despite asking police to stay away, Knoxville mayor's office played role in activist's arrest

Mayor Indya Kincannon was careful to try to lower the temperature in 2022 before a public meeting about hiring Knoxville's new police chief, but at least one officer and one high-ranking city staffer didn't stick to the script.

Court testimony from the trial last week of a Knoxville police reform activist contradicts what city leaders said at the time about Knoxville's role in the arrest of Nzinga Amani outside that public meeting at the City-County Building.

Officials in Kincannon's office said they had asked police to stay away from the meeting convened to solicit input on a successor to Police Chief Eve Thomas.

What they didn't say was a Knoxville police lieutenant tipped off Knox County sheriff's deputies that Amani would be at the meeting and KPD had a warrant for their arrest. Kincannon's team also never revealed that one of the mayor's top officials, Erin Gill, knew before it happened that Knox County sheriff's deputies planned to arrest Amani on the months-old warrant.

Amani, who uses gender neutral they/them pronouns, is suing police, saying city and county officials conspired over the arrest to “maximize the chilling and humiliating effect.” Bystanders watched and recorded video as Amani was handcuffed in the busy City-County Building and carried away by their arms and legs.

Gill was at the meeting and told Knox News at the time, "We specifically had no KPD presence or officers here for this reason, because we wanted there to be trust. We wanted this to be a safe space."

Yet testimony at Amani's trial revealed that Gill was told that day that Amani would be arrested, and asked that deputies wait until the meeting was over. A city spokesperson confirmed it this week.

Knox News has been unable to determine whether Gill alerted anyone in the mayor's office, including Kincannon, about the planned arrest. The mayor's office declined to answer additional questions about events that day, citing Amani's pending civil suit.

Mayor's chief policy officer asked police to wait until meeting was over

When Amani was arrested by Knox County Sheriff’s Office deputies during the public meeting Jan. 7, 2022, it sent shock waves through the community.

At the time, Knoxville officials disavowed any prior knowledge. But that version was contradicted by testimony at Amani's trial last week that revealed Gill knew about the pending arrest − and rather than ask deputies to hold off, simply asked them to wait to arrest Amani after the meeting.

This week, a city spokesperson said Gill was inside the public meeting when Knox County deputies alerted her they had an outstanding warrant for someone’s arrest. At the trial, a Knox County sheriff's officer testified Gill approached him.

"She asked them not to disrupt the meeting and if they intended to serve the warrant, to do so after the event," the spokesperson said.

Gill, who no longer works for the city, declined to comment.

Knoxville police waited for months to serve warrant

Amani was wanted on charges of obstructing a road, inciting a riot and resisting arrest. Those accusations stemmed from an April 2021 demonstration against the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old student Anthony Thompson Jr. in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School.

During a preliminary hearing in May 2022, Knoxville police officer Christopher Starr testified he didn't issue a citation during the demonstration because he didn't want to escalate the situation. He said he made the decision to file a warrant after returning to KPD headquarters and was given instructions not to serve that warrant by Capt. Don Jones.

No attempt was made to serve the warrant on Amani until January 2022, despite their multiple public appearances as a city council candidate.

A police department spokesperson, citing Amani's lawsuit, declined to comment on why KPD never tried to arrest Amani on the warrant at some other time or location; which lieutenant tipped off deputies and why; and whether there was any follow-up with the lieutenant considering the mayor explicitly asked that police stay away from the public meeting.

Knoxville mayor said she had no prior knowledge of Amani arrest

Immediately after the arrest, Kincannon said she was not given a heads-up that it was coming.

"I had no idea that it was happening. I had no idea that he was going to be arrested. I didn't hear about it until after it had already happened," she told Knox News.

Kincannon said in a written response to questions from Knox News that she was traveling back to Knoxville with Police Chief Eve Thomas when Amani was arrested.

"We feel like we were making forward progress and now it took a left turn," Kathy D. Mack, Knoxville's community engagement manager, told Knox News at the time. "I had no knowledge of what was going to happen. This is not at all what we wanted to happen. It’s upsetting."

Trial testimony offers more details of what preceded Amani's arrest

At Amani's trial, Knox County sheriff’s deputy Ron Chaperon testified he went to the meeting after he was told when the activist was there and wanted on a warrant. He said he was instructed not to interrupt the meeting and was to wait for Amani to exit.

Chaperon said he asked to serve the warrant by his supervisor. Deputy Janette Jolman testified a supervisor asked her to verify the warrant earlier that day.

David Cunningham, who recently retired, said he was a sheriff’s deputy working in court services that day. He testified he was told by a Knoxville Police Department lieutenant that a person with a warrant would be at the meeting. Cunningham didn't identify the lieutenant by name.

Cunningham said he verified Amani was present by looking at a sign-in sheet for the public meeting. Cunningham testified that at some point, a staff person from the mayor’s office came out and asked court officers not to arrest Amani until after their input was gathered. The city confirmed to Knox News this week that staff person was Gill.

“I believed he was leaving,” Cunningham said, adding, “we weren’t going to give (them) an opportunity to go outside. We were going to take (them) into custody before that.”

Events that led to Amani's arrest began years earlier

The demonstrations Amani helped lead began when a Knoxville police officer shot and killed 17-year-old Thompson Jr. in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School.

Here's a look back:

April 12, 2021: Anthony Thompson Jr. was shot and killed by a police officer in a school bathroom after officers were called to talk to the teenager, who had gotten into an altercation with his girlfriend earlier in the day.

April 13, 2021: Demonstrations against the Knoxville Police Department begin in downtown Knoxville.

April 21, 2021: A large group of protesters gathers at KPD headquarters, and Amani stands in front of a police car. The officer does not cite or arrest Amani during that interaction, but later writes a citation. Police subsequently successfully seek a warrant, but Amani is never made aware of warrant.

May 4, 2021: Amani protests with a group of others at a Knoxville City Council meeting.

May 5, 2021: Amani speaks at a Knox County Board of Education work session meeting.

May 8, 2021: Amani participates at a L.O.V.E. rally in Lonsdale.

July 29, 2021: Amani takes part in a League of Women Voters candidate forum.

Jan. 7, 2022: Amani is arrested after he steps out of the meeting to gather public input on the qualities people wanted in a new Knoxville police chief.

Jan. 7, 2023: Amani files suit in federal court alleging a police conspiracy, that includes the city and the county, to infringe on his constitutional rights.

March 7, 2023: Amani is acquitted of a misdemeanor charge of blocking a squad car during the April 2021 demonstration.

Sept. 1, 2023: Amani is found guilty of resisting arrest, but the jury can't reach a verdict on a charge of assault on a first responder. The state will announce later this month whether it will try Amani again on that charge.

Liz Kellar is a public safety reporter. Email lkellar@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville mayor's office played role in activist's arrest