Nashville Council member at Large Steve Glover didn’t want Mayor John Cooper to attend Saturday’s rally at Legislative Plaza for George Floyd, and neither did Council member at Large Sharon Hurt.
As reported, several thousand protestors descended upon Legislative Plaza Saturday. Many protestors carried signs demanding that government either defund or abolish the police. Cooper embraced the protestors, spoke at their rally and even thanked them for wearing COVID-19 masks. But later in the day, protesters resorted to violence and vandalized the Metro Courthouse and parts of Lower Broadway.
Glover, on his Facebook page Sunday, published the text of an email that Hurt sent to Cooper before the rally began. Glover said she mentioned him with his blessing.
“Mayor Cooper, I am writing to inform you that I will not be attending the rally and I have asked the Minority Caucus to refrain due to the gathering of more than 25 people,” Hurt wrote.
“I spoke with CM Glover as he and I represent two very different perspectives, have a different approach and belong to different political parties. On this, however, we agree and [personally] I would like to see you address such injustices in a different way.”
Glover told The Tennessee Star Sunday morning that he had a hard time getting away from his telephone, for all the angry constituents who wanted to speak with him.
“I’m taking phone calls from anybody calling me. That is my policy. I don’t like doing it on Sundays, but nobody in Nashville asked for this yesterday as far as the devastation,” Glover said.
“What is really sad is that the majority of people arrested last night were, in fact, from Nashville and Davidson County. That is sad.”
The Star asked Glover what, exactly, his constituents had to say.
“They want to find out how to recall the mayor. They want to force him to resign. I’m not getting any positive feedback,” Glover said.
“I’ll have to leave it right there because there hasn’t been one positive phone call that I have taken this morning. Not one.”
Hurt, meanwhile, said she didn’t want Cooper to attend the rally because she said it violated the city’s current social distancing requirements on COVID-19.
“I don’t want to see a second wave pandemic run rampant through our communities,” Hurt said Sunday.
Glover, meanwhile, said Saturday’s events distressed him greatly.
“I literally cried. You know, people work so hard to make this a good city. A great city. And when leadership just completely ignores them, ignores the economic engine that is downtown, and has already put so many roadblocks in front of them for 2020, to allow this to happen last night, it was almost unforgivable,” Glover said.
Glover said he’s unsure if or when he will discuss his thoughts with Cooper.
“It all depends on if he has time for us. That suggests that right now he seems to think that our opinions don’t matter on the council,” Glover said.
“Well, I’m telling you during this budget process I am hoping this council proves him wrong and that, yes, our opinion does matter because the people elect us. So, we’re going to roll our sleeves up. We’re going to work.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mayor John Cooper” by Nashville.gov.
And to think these are the kind of people Nashville trust in office ! WOW JUST WOW .. SOROS MONEY = YOU WORK FOR THE DEVIL . Cooper is a Soros bitch puppet !! I wonder who pitches and who catches?
Cooper would need a step stool
Cooper is a dumpster fire! Get him out of there ASAP!
I was a fan of Cooper, for the most part. But his stupidity and blindness to what unfolded Saturday shows an incapability to run things. He had the National Guard at his disposal. When you have 50 cities mirroring one another with the same violent results, what makes you think as the 51st city, that things will be different.
I am sick and tired of hearing, “this is not who we are.” Puhlese!!!!!!! If you want to take that route, stay home, hold your crystals in your hand and light some incense. Do not participate in the public sector.
I watched WRKN’s coverage for hours that night. They must have marveled 1,000 times if how understanding the police were and how wonderful it was. Anyone with half a brain will realize that doesn’t work with thugs. Anyone not anticipating exactly what occurred when it got dark, should not be allowed to handle their own eating utensils – much too dangerous for you to do.
The National Guard should have been in full force. The MPD should have been surrounding building BEFORE, not after the fact. Declaring a national emergency and curfew AFTER the fact is clown-like.
Metro’s leadership was a complete failure from the top all the way down. Cooper needs to resign today. I hate to say it, but that’s what needs to happen.
Cooper hoodwinked a bunch of people, but his time is coming. Don’t beat yourself up over past decisions, hind sight is 20/20. Next time around, vote him out!
Will Cooper go on air and explain why he violated social distancing requirements? Will our local news “journalists” ask him this question? Will they ask if the task force is still following up on calls from the COVID tattle-tale hotline and sending police to speak with those businesses who are violating social distancing requirements? I won’t hold my breath…..
Glover is correct. The Mayor knew their was going to be an escalation, it has happened in all other progressive cities. He has failed the people of Nashville. I am tired of living under his rule. Nashville is now in the same category as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. I was hoping tourism would come back…..but Riots and vandalism is our new label. So sad!
Cooper must resign!
Hey Nashville, aren’t you just proud of your mayor? Not the brightest bulb in the pack.
Mayor Cooper is an idiot, he should be recalled and removed from office. What an ignorant embarrassment. Social distancing what a joke! The staged opening of Nashville is political BS from the head POS.