More than 200 people gathered in downtown Knoxville Thursday night, united in frustration. Author: Amelia Young (WBIR), WBIR Staff Published: 11:51 PM EDT April 22, 2021 Updated: 11:51 PM EDT April 22, 2021
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Demonstrators gathered in downtown Knoxville Wednesday and Thursday evenings after Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen announced no charges would be filed in the shooting of 17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. in Austin East High School.
The group chanted slogans such as no justice, no peace and fight back Thursday night. They marched through the city around Main Street, Locust Street and eventually making their way to the University of Tennessee campus.
“Why do we care?” he said critics ask.
“This has been going on for too long, and we are here to say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Skinner said while surrounded by protesters in downtown Knoxville on Thursday night.
Only a handful of hours separated the memorial for Thompson and the protests calling for justice in his name. Thompson was killed by police in an Austin-East bathroom on April 12. The release of police video sparked protests about the officers confrontation with the teen.
The gathering of hundreds of protesters on foot and following in vehicles was much like the night before, only the cries for police reform grew louder and attracted more people as another day passed with questions about why the teen had to die. It was another day of pain shared by a Knoxville community struggling to process five shooting deaths of Austin-East students in 2021.
Wednesday night, protestors took to the streets of downtown Knoxville and Fort Sanders after District Attorney General Charme Allen announced that her office would not be filing charges against Knoxville Police Department Officer Jonathon Clabough, who fatally shot 17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. during a dispute at Austin-East High School last week.
Allen said that according to the police body cam footage that was released Wednesday, Clabough believed he was acting in self-defense. Â
Police were initially called to Austin-East after Thompson was accused of beating his girlfriend at school by her mother. Four officers then confronted Thompson in a school bathroom, where they discovered that he had a gun.
February 21, 2021
Diana Lynn (Murray) Wech, 58, of Corryton, Tenn., formerly of Ocean View, came home Feb. 12 and her sons and their wives were able to spend a few days together. She passed away and went home Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, at 5:26 p.m., by peacefully breathing slower until she passed away in John’s arms. Heaven has a new beautiful voice singing in the choir.
She was a beautiful, gentle and caring lady, a first-rate mom and grandmother and a first-class partner for 33 years. She rarely expressed pain and usually greeted the nurses and staff at Fort Sanders with a smile. She was a member of Corryton Church for many years.