Four arrested during Rogersville protests

ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT/WJHL) - Four people were arrested in Rogersville Saturday during a clash between the New Black Panthers Initiative who were marching in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and counterprotesters.

According to the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office, the following men were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct:

Garon Joseph Archer, 25, of Johnson City
Daniel Lee Starnes, 41, of Bulls Gap
Sean Camron Kauffmann, 26, of Vail, Arizona
Joshua Blakeney, 20, of Morristown

Tension led to the arrests after WJHL reported that BLM activists wanted to place flowers on a veteran’s memorial.

Police said Sheriff Ronnie Lawson was attempting to place flowers on the memorial when Starnes approached him in an “aggressive manner and grabbed the flowers and threw them into the crowd.”

The other three who were arrested are accused of “becoming violent and trying to assault several people in the crowd.”