This is Part Two of a three-part series. Part One is available here.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper is feuding in court with Nashville’s bar and restaurant owners on Lower Broadway.
And for that reason, Cooper wouldn’t hesitate to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a means to incapacitate those businesses.
This, according to an attorney who represents, among others, Nashville businessman Steve Smith, who owns Kid Rock’s Big Honky Tonk and Steakhouse.
As The Tennessee Star reported in Part One of our three-part series, that attorney, Kirk Clements, alleged Cooper and his senior advisor, Ben Eagles, misled the public. The two men never intended to reveal the actual number — a low one — of confirmed COVID-19 cases that Davidson County officials traced back to bars on Nashville’s Lower Broadway, Clements said.
As reported, Cooper ordered those bars and restaurants closed on July 2 after he said they posed a health threat because of allegedly too many COVID-19 cases. Metro Davidson County Health Department officials just two days earlier — on June 30 — said they had traced only 19 cases of COVID-19 to bars in the city. In contrast, at the time they had traced 1,159 cases to long-term care facilities and, as reported, 251 cases to the construction industry.
Cooper spokesman Chris Song has declined The Star’s repeated requests for comment on this matter.
Clements portraying Cooper as a vengeful and unsympathetic mayor seems implausible.
After all, as we asked, why would Cooper — the mayor — deliberately damage Nashville’s economy, an act that would reflect poorly on him?
Clements said he had “a very simple answer.”
“Number One, yes, is he [Cooper] vindictive? Yes, no question. I have been suing and dealing with government officials now for about 20 years, and they are some of the most vindictive people that you will ever deal with. This is my general theory. It is because they believe that they hold the authority, and they become infuriated when people question their authority and what they are doing. Cooper is no different. He is the same exact way. I have talked to people who have talked to him and he’s arrogant. He is thin-skinned, and he is vindictive,” Clements said.
“Number Two. There are only 163 bars in Nashville and 35 or more probably are on this block and Second Avenue and the surrounding area, maybe more. So let’s say there are probably about a fourth of all bars in and about Broadway. Broadway is a real problem for the mayor because COVID numbers will always go up as they increase the testing as people get out. The COVID numbers are going to go up. There is nothing that anybody can do about it unless everybody stays at home and doesn’t go out. Well, that’s not going to happen.”
Will Witnesses Testify That Cooper is Vindictive?
The Star asked Clements who told him that Cooper is vindictive and dislikes the bars on Lower Broadway — and whether one or more of those people will testify in a federal lawsuit against Cooper? Clements did not name names. He said one of those people might testify, but he did not say definitively.
As reported in June, Smith said in this federal lawsuit that city officials impose hardships on his business because of COVID-19 — but they look the other way when it comes to social justice protests. Smith joined The Local Spot owner Geoffrey Reid in the lawsuit.
Clements went on to say late last week that Cooper “doesn’t want publicity of what is going on at Lower Broadway while COVID numbers are going up.”
“His answer is ‘I’ve got to shut down Broadway.’ And he’s all but done it. He’s actually shut down all of the bars up until recently. But even when the bars were shut down that left four places open on Broadway, four restaurants. He had 30 to 40 police officers on Broadway Friday and Saturday patrolling the streets. Over four restaurants. There are 4,000 restaurants in Nashville, but he had 30 to 40 police officers focus on Broadway, so much so that even council members were in the paper complaining that there’s more focus on Broadway,” Clements said.
“The mayor is vindictive, and he can’t afford to have Broadway bustling during this [time of] COVID. It’s a very easy decision for him. ‘OK, you want to mess with me? I’m going to do something that not only retaliates against you but also helps me politically. I am going to shut down Broadway.’ And that is what he’s done. The timing you can’t get away from.”
Clements said the mayor now tells business owners exactly how many people they can have in their establishments.
“He’s saying bars can only have 50 people in their restaurant or bar. Some of these places are 30,000 square feet. That’s like each person getting 600 square feet. It doesn’t make any sense,” Clements said.
“I think some of the public has a misunderstanding of what some of these government officials are capable of. Unfortunately, we have seen it play out to where the mayor has decimated an entire industry for political purposes.”
Cooper this month said that the White House and Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force prompted him to close bars. But Clements said he can prove that Cooper lied about that. In Part Three of our three-part series, Clements will present his evidence.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “John Cooper” by nashville.gov. Background Photo “Nashville Downtown Lower Broadway” by Celeste Lindell. CC BY 2.0.
Mayor Cooper was caught with his pants down when he personally directed the health department covid numbers concealed due to actual virus numbers being miniscule. TRUE cases were not anywhere near the level for him to justify the closures…. So…. HE LIED. He then had no comment when his scam was brought into the light. You know he was furious but he continues to focus on his scheme. He is plotting and devising a way as I type this to AGAIN close the businesses on Broadway. He has zero conscience or concern for the thousands and thousands of those in our community who are sent home to find ways to survive. He lied to us. His lies hurt people. In ways we never know. He lied to us. Even if you don’t like the live music venues and bars, I hope you DO care about the integrity and moral standards of the mayor. The community has a responsibility to hold our leaders accountable for their actions and decisions. I was personally told by three different members of his staff made responsible for seeing his strict rules are followed by the businesses on and around Broadway that they are instructed to find violations at any means possible to show him having one choice. Close Broadway! Some violations were from a patron standing vs sitting. He has implemented rules not for the safety of all people, but for the way the guests are made to experience our businesses. Knowing how unreasonable his rules are, he knows it is easy to find someone who isn’t following his direction so he can write the business violation after violation so he can say lookie cookie… They are not following guidelines. Close them. Bankrupt them. Cooper does not care as long as they close. And that being his end goal. To bankrupt Broadway. In reality, he is forcing our neighbors, friends, family, our brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, complete strangers into poverty. Into despair and desperation that leads to things like addiction, theft, crime, and even the most harsh, suicide and murder. He has already proven his tactics are not below hurting innocent people by deception to forge his Cooper city. Beware of those in power with a personal agenda who use taxpayers money and resources as weapons to bring their vision into reality. Waging battles where the casualties aren’t trained soldiers but families, neighbors, local businesses. Beware of Cooper and his vision. Someone very close to all of us is going to be affected by Cooper. Unless he is kept in the light so his tools of malice, deception, power, and hate are powerless. Democrats, Republicans, or any other political affiliations all agree that trust in our leaders and decision makers is paramount. Period! And Cooper is not trustworthy.
Most people are not aware of what are local government is capable of because our local mainstream media tows the liberal viewpoint. Also, when we look at where relief money was spent locally we will likely find there was not much relief going on for those that needed it the most (timing will be key now that questions are being asked). This will be in line with what has happened in other Democrat run cities to make the impact worse for political reasons.
This man need to be ousted from office.
Cooper is repulsive. He is arrogant trash with that monotone irritating voice . He needs to be publicly broken. He is a crazy liberal . We get on here and post the truth and no one brings this trash down. When he goes to court he will probably get a crooked democratic judge that will protect him and his smugness. Sickening. Bring him down! I cannot express my disdain for people that operate like him. Hong Kong Song the worst spokesman ever a true representative for his commie boss.