A Knox County commissioner has filed a resolution seeking a public hearing on whether Board of Zoning Appeals member Robert Alex Moody should be removed from his seat, following a misdemeanor assault citation stemming from an incident outside a political event in downtown Knoxville earlier this month. Commissioner Brandon Huckaby's measure, Resolution 26-10-904, does not seek to prejudge the outcome but instead asks fellow commissioners to formally consider whether Moody's alleged conduct amounts to cause for removal under county ordinance.
According to WVLT, Huckaby said the request seeks a public hearing, not a prejudgment of the outcome, and that Moody deserves notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond. The incident that triggered the resolution occurred on October 10 outside an anti-immigration forum at Jackson Terminal hosted by Heritage Hubs, a group Moody co-founded earlier this year, according to Compass. The forum featured speakers including former Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, per the same report.
Knoxville police issued Moody a citation for misdemeanor assault after reviewing video footage recorded by William Wilson, the man who says he was struck, and noted that Moody declined to give a statement at the scene, Compass reported. Per WVLT, Huckaby said reports show Wilson claimed Moody punched him outside the event. Huckaby's resolution asks commissioners, should a hearing proceed, to determine whether the alleged strike was intentional and without legal justification, and he has said any self-defense claim must be weighed before the commission decides whether the conduct constitutes cause for removal.
A Politically Charged Appointment
Moody's seat on the nine-member board was itself contentious before the citation. He was appointed as the 9th District representative on a narrow 6-5 vote by the full Knox County Commission in September, per the same Compass report. Knox County Commissioner Andy Fox supported that appointment and was also a featured speaker at the October 10 Heritage Hubs event, Compass reported.
The Board of Zoning Appeals decides zoning disputes involving the public, hearing requests for variances, appeals of Uses on Review, and administrative appeals of zoning enforcement and stormwater decisions, according to Compass. Huckaby has argued that unjustified violence, if proven, demonstrates a failure of judgment relevant to service on a board with that kind of authority over the public, contending that unjustified physical violence against a member of the public demonstrates a serious failure of judgment and self-restraint relevant to continued service.
What the Ordinance Requires
Removing a sitting member of the Board of Zoning Appeals is not automatic. Knox County requires removal for cause upon written charges and after a public hearing, under county ordinance Section 6.60.01 and Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-106(a), which grants county legislative bodies statutory authority to establish, appoint, and regulate boards of zoning appeals across the state, according to Justia's codification of the statute. The Knox County zoning ordinance itself specifies that members may be removed for cause by the Commission only upon written charges following a public hearing.
Moody has not been removed from the board, and the Knox County Commission has not yet set a hearing date. The Commission will vote on whether to hold a hearing on Huckaby's request; any removal would require the formal process required by law.
Moody's Public Record and the Backlash Outside Jackson Terminal
Moody's appearance at the Heritage Hubs forum was not his first public airing of the group's politics. In February, he spoke during the public forum portion of a Knox County Commission meeting calling for the “remigration” of immigrants and expressing support for Western European ethnonationalist movements, according to Compass. State business registration records indicate Heritage Hubs was formally incorporated in Tennessee earlier this year by Moody and his co-founders, the outlet reported.
The October 10 forum drew organized opposition. WBIR reported that several other protesters were outside the event and separately described protests in Market Square. It was in that charged atmosphere that the confrontation between Moody and Wilson took place, setting up the removal fight now headed to the full Commission.
