Via WGRV News Website: The incident that ended up in the arrest of a 76-year-old Cocke County man at a meeting last week has spread nationwide through social media. The arrest of Eddie Bruce Overholt on charges of disrupting a meeting and resisting arrest at the Greene County Industrial Development Board meeting was videotaped by other attendees and quickly posted to sites such as YouTube. Word of the incident was relayed through Facebook and submitted to CNN through their iReport citizen journalist program. On Tuesday, the video of Overholts arrest reached national media, with reports on Fox News and local TV stations across the region. The recap of the incident was also highlighted on a number of prominent Web site, including Huffington Post, The Blaze and Mediaite. Descriptions of Overholts arrest highlight the fact that his request that committee members speak louder led to his ejection, and that Overholt was escorted on foot from the Greeneville Light & Power building down College Street to the Greene County Detention Center despite having a bad back and hip. The event was considered a public meeting of the board rather than a public hearing, which means that there was no obligation on the part of the board to provide members of the audience to speak. The board did not utilize microphones in the G. Thomas Love Boardroom, which led some members of the audience to complain that they could not hear the proceedings. Under Title 8, Chapter 44, Section 108 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, which is part of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, it states that each part of a meeting required to be open to the public shall be audible to the public. Overholts arrest by Greeneville police fell under Title 39, Chapter 17, Section 306 of the Tennessee Code Annotated, which states that a person commits an offense if, with the intent to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, procession, or gathering, the person substantially obstructs or interferes with the meeting, procession, or gathering by physical action or verbal utterance. The charge of resisting arrest was in response to Overholt reportedly refusing to leave the room on his own accord by clenching the top of a barrier post with his right hand. It was also reported that Overholt asked to stop during his walk to the jail, and leaned into arresting Officer Steve Hixson which caused a cut to Overholts elbow and transferred blood to the officers uniform. The meeting was called for the purpose of resubmitting an application to the Tennessee Department of Transportation which would utilize state right-of-way to construct two pipelines that would transport water to and from the Nolichucky River to the US Nitrogen plant in Midway. Overholt posted $2,000 bond following his arrest. He pleaded not guilty in Greene County General Sessions Court on Monday and will be back in court on Monday, September 22.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 12:17:13 +0000
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