Protester eyes legal action over cell phone snatch at Blackburn campaign event

A Marsha Blackburn supporter “wrested a cell phone” from a protester who was recording a Knoxville campaign breakfast event over the weekend and the protester is now planning a civil lawsuit and perhaps a criminal charge as well, reports Betty Bean.

A reception was underway in an upstairs room at Café 4, where (U.S. Rep.) Blackburn, the GOP frontrunner to replace Sen. Bob Corker, was attending a breakfast in her honor. Some 15 protestors, mostly Democrats and mostly women, were standing outside holding signs. Their numbers included former state Rep. Gloria Johnson, District 2 congressional candidate Renée Hoyos and Indivisible East Tennessee head Sarah Herron.

Johnson reported the incident on her Facebook page (HERE, including pictures and video):

“Started the morning with friends on Market Square meeting to quietly send a message to Marsha Blackburn. We laughed and chatted and held signs. Low key because we had no interest in disrupting our neighborhood businesses.

“A man came outside to talk to us about how wrong we were about taxes. His name was Glenn D. Meyers, he works for Humana. He became angry when he realized he was on tape and came toward the woman with the camera. He grabbed at her and took the camera/phone from her, then tried to go back in the building with her camera.

“She had stopped recording when he asked, but when he took the camera, he started recording again. That is why there are two videos. She is pressing charges.”

… Sarah’s hand became extremely swollen and she ended up at a walk-in clinic, he splinted it and took an X-ray.

UPDATE: From the News Sentinel’s report:

Sarah Herron, founder of Indivisible East Tennessee, told authorities she was among a small group of protesters gathered outside the Blackburn meet-and-greet at Cafe 4 on Saturday morning when an attendee, Dr. Glenn Meyers, forcefully snatched her phone out of her hand, according to a Knoxville Police Department incident report.

The article quotes Herron’s attorney, Dennis Francis,  as saying criminal charges will be filed. Myers’s attorney, Rachel Bonano, as saying, “I do believe that Ms. Herron’s claims are quite exaggerated, especially in regard to her alleged injuries.”