UPDATE: All charges have been dismissed against a Chattanooga man who police say urinated on the Islamic Center.
Sawyer Byers was previously charged with vandalism/malicious mischief and indecent exposure.
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp tells us that Byers was ordered to do 42 hours of community service, which he completed by his court date on Monday.
DA Wamp says there was no damage to the building, and that Byers didn’t know it was an Islamic Center.
“We don’t send people to jail just for urinating on the side of a building,” said Wamp.
Byers was one of two people seen in a security video released by the Islamic Center in March.
PREVIOUS STORY: A Chattanooga man has been arrested and charged with vandalism/malicious mischief and indecent exposure after the Islamic Center released security footage of what Chattanooga Police say shows him urinating on the mosque.
Chattanooga Police say an employee from a local logistics company, where the suspect previously worked, helped police identify the suspect as Sawyer Byers after seeing the video on the news.
Police reports show that Byers’ attorney called police to state that Byers wanted to identify himself from the video. His attorney claimed that Byers was not aware that the building was a mosque and “never meant to deface the building due to religious beliefs.”
Byers was one of the two males seen in the security video. Police believe that the second male could be related to Byers. That person was seen kicking a window on the Islamic Center.
Editorial note: Sawyer Byers was previously employed by Local 3 News in 2023.
PREVIOUS STORY: Chattanooga Police are investigating an incident outside the Islamic Center on Saturday night.
The Islamic Center released surveillance footage to Local 3 News, saying one man with a beard urinated on the outside of the building, while another man kicked the building. The center says you can see the urine start to drip down the side of the building.
Police say this happened around 11:00 pm on Saturday night.
The Chattanooga Police Department is looking for those involved. If you have any information, you can call police at (423) 698-2525.