The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, and four judges on Tennessee’s 21st Judicial District either did not respond, or did not confirm, to inquiries by The Tennessee Star seeking more information about the claim by Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) that one-third of criminal cases in Williamson County now involve an illegal immigrant.
The silence comes after Warner appeared on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, telling the hosts, “I recently met with the Williamson County delegation, and judges from Williamson County, here in southern Middle Tennessee, and a judge last week told a group of about five of us… either build more jails, build more prisons, or remove the immigrants from this state.”
He told the Fox News hosts, “It’s bad enough in that county, Williamson County, he said over one-third of criminal court cases were due to illegal aliens.”
Neither the TBI nor the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office responded to a prior press inquiry from The Star.
Judge Joseph Woodruff, Judge Deana Hood, and Judge David Veile did not respond to Thursday press inquiries, while the judicial assistant to Judge Diana Bell Johnson told The Star the judge has not spoken to Warner.
Warner similarly did not respond to The Star when asked if he could corroborate his statement to Fox News.
The representative made his comments after TBI confirmed members of the Tren de Aragua gang are now present in all of Tennessee’s major cities, often moving between them to engage in criminal activity.
TBI Director David Rausch previously stated the gang, which originated in Venezuela’s prisons, is currently engaged in human trafficking in Tennessee, but warned it could progress to organized theft gangs.
In response to growing concerns about crime caused by illegal immigrants, Warner filed legislation he told “Fox & Friends” would require Tennessee law enforcement to hold illegal immigrants for the maximum amount of time legally allowed, then require them released within sanctuary cities, unless federal immigration officials take their custody first.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Crime Scene” by Tony Webster CC BY-SA 4.0.
