Lawyers question handling of man’s gun arrest
Chattanooga police seized items from the apartment of Trevan Young, an armed black man who was arrested last week during George Floyd protests in Chattanooga, according to his attorney, who is questioning the legality of the arrest.
Young, 29, was arrested after police received a credible tip there was an armed individual with possible intent to do harm to people attending the ongoing demonstrations in response to the May death of Floyd, a black man who died under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Police said they found a disassembled AR-15 concealed in Young’s backpack with multiple AR-15 magazines, two of which were loaded and easily accessible to him.
In a statement Monday morning, local attorney McCracken Poston, who is representing Young, said the arrest of his client “has raised many questions and areas of legal concern[.]”
“The Chattanooga Police Department stands by the actions its officers took to
apprehend Trevan Young on June 1, 2020,” police spokeswoman Elisa Myzal said. “Due to pending litigation, [neither] the department nor its representatives can comment any further at this time. CPD encourages all community members to communicate concerns to help keep Chattanooga safe.”
“The government confiscated not only the backpack and the disassembled weapon as the protest was ending and Mr. Young was leaving Miller Park, but also took Mr. Young’s Subaru and another weapon which was legally locked in the car, several blocks and a long walk from the protest,“Poston wrote in a statement.
Police also obtained a search warrant for Young’s apartment “that suggested to the signing judge that they were looking for ‘gang paraphernalia’ and any devices capable of containing, storing, and/ or possessing evidence related to [evidence of a terrorist plot or plan to cause bodily injury or mass casualty].”
Some items were seized, Poston said, but didn’t clarify what they were.
Poston said he hasn’t seen any evidence to suggest that Young “was doing anything other than exercising what he felt was his constitutional right to bear arms.”
He said the firearm, which his client legally purchased, was never assembled or left the backpack during the protest until it was removed and assembled by Chattanooga police for what he calls “a press release photo op.”
“In fact, one might argue that the assembling of the gun could be considered as manufacturing evidence of the readiness of the firearm for use, later influencing judges subsequently issuing search warrants and misleading the public,” Poston said.
Police often test fire confiscated weapons for the purposes of collecting ballistic evidence. That information lets gun unit investigators know in what crimes, if any, the gun was used.
While many have praised police for erring on the side of caution, many others — both activists and community members — have defended Young, arguing that he couldn’t have hurt anyone if the gun was disassembled and that he was peacefully participating in the protests.
Photos show Young participating in the protest earlier that day, and Poston said his client attended the protest near Miller Park for more than two hours, “peacefully protesting a controversial police practice” — “‘no-knock’ raids that in March led to the deaths of two innocent citizens, Breona Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky and Duncan Lemp in Potomac, Maryland.”
Poston said Young is an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S. Army, “where he served our country as a Signal Intelligence Analyst in the 18th Airborne Corps, 525th Battlefield
Surveillance Brigade, and has no criminal record aside from some speeding tickets.”
“As much as I personally do not feel the need to carry such a weapon, I have seen a lot of white people carrying them around at Wal-Mart and other public places,” Poston said.
“[T]he trend of the newer laws, supported by a lot of current officeholders and groups like the National Rifle Association, is to support the rights of citizens to carry these weapons in public places.”
He also pointed to what he says are disparities in the bond amounts between Young and another man — Kevin Leko, a 35-year-old white man — who was arrested days later for standing atop a building along the protest route in the 1400 block of Market Street with an assault rifle.
In his bag, police said they found an AK-47 rifle, two 9 mm handguns and a revolver, all of which were loaded. They also reported finding a broken-down PA-224 and various loaded magazines for each weapon with the exception of the revolver.
Leko also had six beers in his bag and appeared to be very intoxicated, based on his speech, movement and the smell of beer on his breath, police said.
Young was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to use it for harm, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. His bond was set at $8,000. Leko was charged with possession of a firearm while under the influence. His bond was set at $3,000.
Poston said he looks forward to comparing the two cases and to “a full examination of the credibility of any source that led to the arrest and subsequent search warrant.” He also called upon city law enforcement to immediately dismiss all charges and return all confiscated property to Young.
Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office would be in charge of dismissing the charges. DA spokesman Bruce Garner said the office cannot comment on a pending case.
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