MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Community activist Joseph Kyles was arrested Sunday evening and charged with aggravated assault.
The head of the Memphis Rainbow Push Coalition is accused of choking his pregnant girlfriend.
Friday afternoon, police were called to Methodist University Hospital on a domestic violence assault call.
The victim had pain in her throat after she said her boyfriend choked her, police said.
She refused to name the suspect over fear of harm, police said, but she told them he was a prominent member of the community and a preacher who played a role in the recent protests in the city.
The boyfriend had been with the victim when she first came to the hospital, and an ER staff member recognized him from news coverage of the I-40 bridge protest.
He left by the time officers arrived.
The victim first told hospital staff her injuries were from being pushed and falling onto a chair, police said.
However, when police spoke with her, she said her boyfriend put his hands on her and choked her during an argument.
The victim told police she was 13 weeks pregnant with the suspect’s child.
She told police he wanted her to get an abortion, but she refused to get one.
She was apparently convinced her his status in the city made him “untouchable.”
The assault happened at an apartment complex on GE Patterson Boulevard.
The victim told police there were many cameras at the complex, so there would likely be video footage.