Image Credit: Jennifer Hay & Google Earth
By Jennifer Hay [Knoxville Nobility] –
A recent decision letter from the Office of Professional Responsibility, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded that U.S. Attorneys Casey T. Arrowood and Kyle Boynton did not act unprofessionally in withholding exculpatory evidence from Mark Reno—a pro-life Catholic man who died in federal custody on August 15, 2022.
While this evidence might have helped Reno at his detention hearing, the author of the decision letter explained that the government is only obligated to produce exculpatory evidence in time for effective use at trial.
On July 18, 2022, the FBI arrested Mark Reno at his home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, and charged him with firing shots at the John J. Duncan Building, a federal building in Knoxville, on July 3, 2022. However, U.S. attorneys Arrowood and Boynton withheld from the defense a handwritten report made by an officer of the Federal Protective Service (FPS) stating that no bullet fragments or casings were found.
Arrowood and Boynton also withheld another FPS report about a window that was broken on the same building on June 18, 2022— just two weeks earlier —with the same fracture pattern. The investigating officer suspected that this window had been broken by debris from nearby construction.
The government had these exculpatory records at the time of Reno’s detention hearing but did not disclose them to Reno’s attorney. Based on the evidence presented at the detention hearing, Judge Jill McCook ordered that Reno be detained until trial. However, Reno died in federal custody on August 15, 2022—just 28 days after his arrest. According to his death certificate, the primary cause of death was a hemorrhaging ulcer, although there was no autopsy.
On June 24, 2025, I filed a complaint with the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) against U.S. attorneys Arrowood and Boynton. I provided evidence that 1) they were in possession of the exculpatory federal reports, and 2) never disclosed them to Reno’s attorney.
The OPR dismissed my complaint on the grounds that the rules merely require that federal prosecutors disclose exculpatory evidence in time to be effectively used at trial. The decision letter reads, in part:
The court’s discovery order and the controlling discovery rules require that the government timely disclose certain information to the defense for effective use at trial. Mr. [Reno’s] passing at the outset of his case resulted in the dismissal of the prosecution at an early stage. Under the unique circumstances of this case, OPR concluded that no action by this office is warranted.
The OPR decision letter was not signed, nor did it provide any avenue for appeal.
Although Reno’s death mooted the criminal case, the government continued its actions against Reno and his family by other means. In October of 2022, the FBI seized vehicles belonging to Reno’s widow and daughter, claiming these had been used in the commission of crimes.
On November 1, 2022, the Justice Department issued a press release alleging that Reno had set the fire which destroyed Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood building on December 31, 2021. This press release was widely reported by media outlets in Knoxville and beyond. However, public records have since exonerated Reno of the arson.
In 2022, the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) advised the FBI that the truck driven by the arsonist was likely never sold in Tennessee or surrounding states. The NICB’s analysis ruled out Reno’s truck, which had only been registered in Tennessee prior to the arson.
In 2023, the Knoxville Fire Department (KFD) released Planned Parenthood’s security footage which captured the real arsonist—a man who was much thinner than Reno. In their final report, KFD concluded that the fire had been set inside the Planned Parenthood building—in one of the exam rooms.
Reno first drew FBI’s attention when, at a pro-life event in Knoxville, he told an undercover agent that he had been at the U.S. Capitol for the protest on January 6, 2021. However, the FBI found no evidence that Reno entered the Capitol building or committed any crime (FBI affidavit, §5-9).
Mark Reno was a parishioner of Holy Ghost Catholic Church within the Diocese of Knoxville.
*This article was skillfully edited by Mrs. Taylor Williams.
Author Bio: Jennifer Hay is the founder of Knoxville Nobility, a Substack publication for local pro-life, pro-family news and insights, including firsthand reporting on Knoxville’s 2021 Planned Parenthood arson.
3 Responses
FRAMED!!
It sounds to me like malfeasance via politically biased FBI at the time and a DOJ that was gunning for conservatives. It appears to me that TN has a corrupt BI and DOJ to this day. No vehicles should have been seized, or any monetary actions taken against the accused’s family. Podunk “justice” needs to be stopped and the family reimbursed. In addition, why was an autopsy not perfored on the man since he died in custody: that is a red light of fraud in a a state that routinely arrests people for DUI when they are not under the influence.
Sounds to me like the taxpayer funded “authorities” need to be audited and perhaps prosecuted for breaking the laws put in place to protect the taxpayers. In addition, the accused was exonerated from the arson charges so where is the recompense for that?
It sounds to me like malfeasance via politically biased FBI at the time and a DOJ that was gunning for conservatives. It appears to me that TN has a corrupt BI and DOJ to this day. No vehicles should have been seized, or any monetary actions taken against the accused’s family. Podunk “justice” needs to be stopped and the family reimbursed. In addition, why was an autopsy not perfored on the man since he died in custody: that is a red light of fraud in a a state that routinely arrests people for DUI when they are not under the influence.
Sounds to me like the taxpayer funded “authorities” need to be audited and perhaps prosecuted for breaking the laws put in place to protect the taxpayers. In addition, the accused was exonerated from the arson charges so where is the recompense for that?