Chattanooga protests timeline

› February 1960: Sit-ins

Black students from Howard High School conducted sit-ins at various “white-only” businesses. After days of protests, the city met the demonstrators with fire hoses.

› April 1968: Assassination of MLK

Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., protests and looting rise in Chattanooga and curfews are established by the city.

› Late 1960s-early 1970s: Integration

Unrest arose at the attempted integration of Brainerd High School.

› 1969: Vietnam War

Vietnam War protests arrive in Chattanooga.

› May 1971: Missing musical acts

After only one of four rock bands shows up at a concert and refunds were refused, approximately 3,000 teens rampaged through the city, an act described by The New York Times as a night of “rioting, burning and looting.” Similar protests had broken out in January of the same year.

› June 1979: KKK rally According to an article in the Chattanooga Free Press, 500 people gathered at a house 20 miles north of Chattanooga for a KKK rally and a cross-burning.

› July 1980: KKK members acquitted

Protests arose after men with ties to the KKK were acquitted of shooting five black women in April 1980.

› Late 1980s-early 1990s: Abortion

Debates on abortion saw protesters demonstrating at the Chattanooga Women’s Clinic, which led to many arrests. In 1993, an anti-abortion group purchased and ended abortion services at the clinic.

› February 2003: Possible U.S.-Iraq war

On Feb. 16, 2003, nearly 300 people marched from Miller Park to Coolidge Park in protest of a possible U.S.-Iraq war.

› March 2003: U.S. attack of Iraq

Protesters joined nationwide demonstrations and gathered downtown in opposition to the U.S. attack on Iraq, signaling the beginning of the second Gulf War.

› 2003-08: U.S.-Iraq war

Archives show various annual protests are held in continued opposition to the U.S.-Iraq war for at least these five years.

› March 2009: UTC budget cuts

More than two dozen employees and students from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga marched with signs to protest potential budget cuts that were expected to lead to future layoffs.

› April 2009: Tax protests

Around 2,000 Chattanooga-area conservatives joined nationwide tea party demonstrations in protest of tax rates and increased government spending.

› July 2011: TVA power plant

Protesters dressed as zombies in 2011 to oppose the Tennessee Valley Authority in reviving an old power plant. TVA soon bans all costumes from its meetings, but is later met with a lawsuit citing First Amendment violations.

› October 2011: Occupy Chattanooga

In 2011, Occupy Chattanooga began, following larger national Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in opposition to large corporations and socio-economic disparities, among other issues.

› May 2013: GMOs

On May 25, around 200 protestors joined a national movement to ban GMOs in a “March Against Monsanto.”

› July 2013: George Zimmerman’s acquittal

Downtown Chattanooga sees protests after George Zimmerman is acquitted of murder charges in the death of Travon Martin.

› October 2014: Michael Brown Jr.

In 2014, Chattanooga demonstrators with Concerned Citizens for Justice appear to have protested police brutality after the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a white police officer.

› July 2016: Police shootings and violence

Protesters gathered to protest after the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile and the sniper shootings of five Dallas police officers.

› November 2016: Dakota Access oil pipeline

Hundreds of people march against the Dakota Access oil pipeline due to its potential to threaten Native American populations and a water source.

› January 2017: Donald Trump’s inauguration

Protesters gathered in downtown Chattanooga after Donald Trump is inaugurated as president.

› January 2017: Women’s March

Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, demonstrations worldwide, and in Chattanooga, were held in support of women’s rights. The Chattanooga March drew around 3,000 people.

› February 2017: Travel ban

A protest formed in Chattanooga after President Trump enacted a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.

› February 2017: Congressional access

About 100 people showed up to protest their lack of access to their congressional leaders.

› May-June 2017: LGBTQ rights

In May of 2017, Chattanoogans held a local LGBTQ Equality March downtown followed in June by protests at Ross’s Landing against Tennessee’s new “natural and ordinary meaning” law.

› March 2018: School gun violence

Thousands of young people and adults gathered downtown joining nationwide “March for Our Lives” protests against school gun violence. The movement called for strict gun control after a Valentine’s Day shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17 people.

› November 2018: Protect Robert Muller

A group of people gathered in Chattanooga to protest President Trump’s firing of Jeff Sessions and to advocate for the protection and independence of Robert Muller.

› May 2020: Reopen Chattanooga

Protesters gathered in opposition to shelter-in-place guidelines meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

› May-June 2020: George Floyd and Black Lives Matter

After a string of police killings across the country, including the death of George Floyd, Chattanooga joined weeks of worldwide protests.