Law enforcement officers were able to prevent demonstrators from camping out in Legislative Plaza for a second night Saturday.
Gov. Bill Lee failed to enforce state law Friday night and allowed left-wing protesters to occupy the plaza throughout the night and into Saturday morning, The Tennessee Star reported. More than 100 protesters claimed Friday that they had taken control of Nashville’s Legislative Plaza and refused to leave until speaking with Lee.
A 2012 state law passed in response to the Occupy Wall Street movement prohibits protesters from using state-owned property for camping if it’s not a designated campground area. The statute allows law enforcement to remove items like tents, blankets, and sleeping bags.
“Cleanup efforts are underway to address graffiti and camping-related items have been confiscated in accordance with Tennessee law that prohibits that sort of activity,” the governor’s office said in a statement released Saturday evening.
Troopers asking protesters to leave. Sounds like they want them to move by 11. pic.twitter.com/Rw4mqSDcLD
— Buena Vista Social Distance Club (@ramirezalej) June 14, 2020
According to reporters on the ground, state troopers cleared out a group of protesters at 11 p.m.
They're making their way to the exit pic.twitter.com/UIzEAlIQS9
— Buena Vista Social Distance Club (@ramirezalej) June 14, 2020
Activist Justin Jones, however, said demonstrators simply camped out across the street from Legislative Plaza Saturday night and accused Gov. Lee of an “act of aggression.”
THE PEOPLE have been holding space outside the Tennesee Capitol now for 45 hours, after @GovBillLee ordered troopers to clear folks down from Ida B. Wells Plaza. People have slept here 2 nights now, still are here, and will remain. #ReclaimCapitolHillTN #BlackLivesMattters pic.twitter.com/NNUyCMjGlk
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) June 14, 2020
“He sent in hundreds of troopers/national guards into the night. This act of aggression was unnecessary, unjust, and unconstitutional. The people of Tennessee are now being kept out of the plaza and continue to be threatened with arrest for trespassing if they enter,” Jones wrote on Twitter.
It is unclear if the new place of the protester encampment across from Legislative Plaza is on state property, city of Nashville property, or private property within the city of Nashville.
In a statement released Friday night, Lee encouraged “Tennesseans to exercise their First Amendment rights,” but said “lawlessness, autonomous zones, and violence will not be tolerated.”
“Further, Tennessee law expressly prohibits camping on state property not expressly designated as a campground area, and that law will be enforced,” he added.
– – –
Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Justin Jones is a POS.
Crowd looks a little thin. Get your butts off Tennessee’s property.
This kid is looking to follow in the foot steps of a long list of black “shake-down” artists, like Farrakhan, Jackson, Sharpton, and Wright. They never have a job, never pay for their crimes, yet grow exceedingly wealthy, all the while, feinting discrimination, claiming racism, and touting so-called “white privilege”. So, who exactly is exploiting the average black man and where resides the real “racism”?
Justin Jones needs to grow up and get a real job. He is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the state of TN. If his parents are proud of him then we know why Jones has such a distorted view of the world around him.
parents. what is a parent?