Neo-Nazis have terrorized Jewish Nashville residents over the last two weeks with a series of marches, physical assaults, and antisemitic pamphlets, Jewish groups, law enforcement, and local politicians have stated, adding to the list of incidents over the year conducted by multiple extremist groups coming from outside the city.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville warned on Facebook on Wednesday that security contacts had informed them that one neo-Nazi group would continue to operate in the Nashville area for several days. Nashville Metropolitan Police Department Chief John Drake said in a Wednesday statement that the group was likely operating out of a short-term rental in Scottsville, Kentucky. Nashville Jewish Federation CEO Rabbi Dan Horowitz said in a Tuesday Nashville City Council meeting that several groups had been visiting Nashville over the year, and two different groups were responsible for actions over the last two weeks.
Drake said officers have been present at neo-Nazi demonstrations to deter confrontations, and called on residents not to engage with the activists, as they were seeking to film such incidents for propaganda.
“Even Nazi speech is protected under the United States Constitution,” said Drake, but assured that violations would act swiftly when there were violations of law.
“Nashville has a Nazi problem,” said former Nashville Mayor and Democratic Tennessee congressional candidate, arguing that when the extremists crossed the line from speech to harassment and intimidation there had to be legal consequences. She contended that the groups were coming because they believed that they had a receptive audience in the city. “We need to make it clear they are badly mistaken.”
At the Tuesday City Council meeting, Horowitz suggested that extremists were flocking to the city because of a lack of enforcement. He called on law enforcement to enforce laws that were on the books, such as ordinances against parades without permits, wearing masks for disguise on public property, and against littering.
At the same meeting, in which council members condemned the repeated antisemitic incidents in the city, Neo-Nazis heckled speakers and disrupted proceedings. A photograph shared on X by Tennessee State Senator Charlane Oliver showed that one of the men wore a shirt that read “Whites against replacement” with the first letters of each word highlighted in red to spell “War.” District 19 Council Member Jacob Kupin shared on social media that some people had left the chamber in tears.
Kupin, who noted that his grandfather had been liberated from Nazi camps during World War II, said that while Neo-Nazis had a right to speak, residents had a right to condemn the activists. He echoed Council Member At Large Zulfat Suara who said that Muslim, Jewish, Christian, LGBTQ, and immigrant citizens would stand united against the extremists.
“I want to say to these visitors from out of town, you are not welcome here,” said Suara. “Nashville government condemns all forms of hate, and when you come for one of us, you’re coming for all of us, and we continue to stand together for Nashvilleians.”
Pervasive antisemitism
On Monday night antisemitic flyers and graffiti was disseminated throughout the city, the federation said on Facebook on Tuesday. Horowitz said at the council meeting that the antisemitic pamphlets were tossed onto driveways as they had been over the year.
Around 15 extremists distributed antisemitic literature in downtown NaShville on Sunday, chanting antisemtiic statements, according to the federation. The neo-Nazis allegedly harassed pedestrians, flew Nazi flags over a major thoroughfare, and demonstrated in front of a local synagogue. The group said it was “disgusted that once against our beloved city has been sullied by antisemitic instigators.”
One Canadian Neo-Nazi protester was charged with aggravated assault for using a flagpole to strike a local bartender in the face and ribs. Ontario resident Ryan Scott McCann, 29, was also charged with disorderly conduct. The bartender, who had been involved in a physical altercation with the neo-Nazi group when he was assaulted, was also arrested and faced misdemeanor charges for disorderly conduct and resisting police.
The federation said that a white nationalist group had also marched through the city with American flags and extremist materials last Sunday. It condemned the “illegal” demonstration that allegedly broke “multiple local laws.”
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connel said on social media last Sunday that he would not allow such action to be normalized, and assured that his administration was ” exploring how we can thoroughly address unlawful activity of the group and prevent it in the future.”
According to the Federation’s statement last Sunday, antisemitic extremist marches had last been conducted in February. Horowitz also said Tuesday that Jewish institutions had received multiple bomb threats over the year.
“We have been warning our local and state elected officials to act, and thus far insufficient action has been taken to enforce our current laws,” the federation said on social media on Wednesday. “We very much appreciate the efforts of law enforcement to disrupt these activities to the extent possible, and we now call on our elected officials to use the full force and effect of our local and state laws.”
O’Connel said on Tuesday that he would “continue working to defeat Nazis.”
“We are a city that must always orient toward love and a welcoming spirit because we understand the lessons of the past and despite our ghosts,” said O’Connel. “We enjoy freedoms that allow hatred to exist among us, but it cannot be allowed to come between us.”