There have been new developments in the criminal case against popular country music artist Chris Young. He was arrested earlier this week at a popular Nashville bar.
Now security video has surfaced raising questions about the charges and what really happened, and Young's attorney is calling for an apology.
On Monday night at the Dawg House Saloon, Chris Young was inside with some friends when he had an incident with agents with the Alcohol and Beverage Commission.
Now video from inside the bar is raising some questions about what happened.
The video shows Young in a black leather jacket, black hat and jeans as he reached out to an agent with the Alcohol Beverage Commission, and the agent shoved Young to the ground.
In the affidavit, the agent reported that Young struck him on the shoulder, so he pushed Young away for separation.
Young was arrested moments later and charged with assaulting an officer.
"My legal opinion is that Chris Young did not commit an assault against that officer, and it's not even a close call," said legal analyst Ben Raybin.
He said there's no video evidence related to the other charges of resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
As for the alleged assault, the question is whether a reasonable person would judge what Young did to be extremely offensive or provocative.
Raybin said the same could be asked of the ABC agent.
"A much tougher call is whether the officer committed an assault," he added.
So how did this all start?
It began at Tin Roof, where ABC agents carded patrons including Young.
Young's lawyer Bill Ramsey says Young then followed the agents to the Dawg House to confirm the identity of the men, who were not in obvious uniforms, and to ask why it appeared they took a photo of his license.
This situation escalated from there.
Young is not commenting publicly at this time, Ramsey says that what happened to Young was wrong, the charges need to be dropped and the ABC agents should apologize.
"What happened to my client Chris Young at a bar in Nashville on Monday night was wrong and he never should have been arrested and charged in the first place. In light of the video evidence, Tennessee ABC needs to drop the charges and apologize for the physical, emotional and professional harm done towards my client," said Ramsey.
Young still faces those criminal charges — and it's possible the video does not tell the whole story. He has a court hearing in February.
Scripps News Nashville reached out for comment from both the district attorney and the Alcohol Beverage Commission, but neither has responded.
This story was originally published by Nick Beres at Scripps News Nashville.
