NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Several thousand protestors descended upon Nashville’s Legislative Plaza Saturday on behalf of George Floyd and many carried signs demanding that government either defund or abolish the police.
The crowd, composed of whites and blacks, chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace” many times over.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper, State Sen. Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville), State Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville), and left-wing activist Justin Jones were among only some of the people who addressed the crowd.
Another speaker identified himself as Samuel X. He described himself as “a student of the honorable Louis Farrakhan.”
Samuel X identifies on Facebook as Samuel X Gray, a student minister at the Nation of Islam. He said he had something to say that some people in the audience might not like.
“This world that we live in is suffering from a virus. I’m not talking about COVID-19. I am talking about the virus of white supremacy. Unfortunately, as white people are in support of those who are in support of our cause, many of you are asymptomatic of this through your white privilege, which you can use to your advantage, not by being silent but by actually enforcing your people because it’s not us who needs to make this change. It’s your people who need to make the change,” Gray said.
“Representing a nation that has been discarded by this government and discarded by those who are in the power structure of white supremacy, who have continuously passed us to the side and looked at us as something of a disgrace when we have been the voice that has been standing for our people regardless of whatever our faith is. The government has failed us. Politics has failed us. Education has failed us. Health care has failed us. Every system of this white supremacy structure has failed us. So we said we need to throw the whole damn thing away.”
Members of the crowd then roared with approval.
“And to throw it away is not rebuilding it with the same principles,” Gray said.
“It’s taking what was never there in the very beginning, which is truth, which is freedom, justice, and equality.”
Justin Jones, who, as The Tennessee Star previously reported, has had prior run-ins with law enforcement, said “white supremacy is bipartisan,” and that no one should count on politicians to protect them. Jones then urged members of the crowd to vote.
“A lot of people asked me when I came here, ‘Is it going to be a peaceful rally?’” Jones said.
“I think you need to ask Chief [Steve] Anderson and the Metro Nashville Police Department.”
Mayor Cooper, meanwhile, spoke of equal justice under the law for everyone. He also thanked the crowd for wearing masks to protect themselves against COVID-19.
The Nashville-based NewsChannel 5 reported Saturday that protestors, after the rally, smashed police cars, broke windows, and spray painted graffiti on buildings and cars. Members of the Nashville Police Department did not return The Star’s request for comment on the matter before press time Saturday.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
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[…] As The Tennessee Star reported, several thousand protestors descended upon Nashville’s Legislative Plaza Saturday on behalf of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis while in police custody. Many protestors carried signs demanding that the government either defund or abolish the police. The crowd, composed of whites and blacks, chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace” many times over. […]
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The mayor is the head of our city’s police department. It is by his say so that the police stand down or defend themselves and their city. We saw the results of his inaction on Saturday night.
The mayor and council members who attended this gathering of leftists gave a stamp of official approval to anarchy and no rule by law. In my book, that is a viable reason for their resignation.
The ignorance of some people never ceases to amaze me. What the hell is wrong with these people? Abolish the police force…….really?
That’s a great idea, so that ignorance and violence like we saw last night can become an every day event. Yeah that’s a grand gesture. Thank you police men and women for putting your lives at risk for our safety. And thanks to you George Soros for busing in your paid actors to induce riots and destruction. Nashvillians now how to pay for the repairs.
And they demand “abolishing the police”. So when the criminals come for their possessions, their property–and them, who will they call? Because, as is typical, they probably oppose the right of armed self defense too. They would just get MORE of what so-called “progressive” leftist leadership has wrought in their cities and states.