TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jul 5, 2024

A group of mainly Black clergy and business and community leaders in Chattanooga held a press conference on Monday in front of District Attorney Coty Wamp's office, saying the indictment of Police Chief Celeste Murphy was the result of politics, reports Chattanoogan.com. Dr. Ernest Reid, pastor of Second Missionary Baptist Church, said Murphy's historic appointment as the city's first Black female police chief "was met with hostility almost from the start," adding that this "attempt to discredit an African American woman in leadership reeks of petty partisan politics with dangerous outcomes if applied uniformly." Wamp attended the press conference and stated she had referred the matter from the start to a prosecutor from another county and that her office had not brought the charges against Murphy, stating, "I cannot and will not comment on Chief Murphy's investigation or indictment, because I do not know anything about it other than what I have read in the news media."