Chark Kinsolving, the owner of two Nashville clubs, is being condemned on social media for a post he made about the failed assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump over the weekend.
Trump was grazed by a single bullet in his upper right ear in what is officially being investigated as a failed assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Minutes after Trump took the stage in Butler at approximately 6:13 p.m. on Saturday, a suspected shooter – who has since been identified as 20-year old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania – fired multiple shots toward the stage from an elevated position outside of the venue.
Crooks, who shot and killed one spectator and injured three others including the former president, was fatally shot by Secret Service personnel.
Kinsolving, who co-owns the Nashville venues Eastside Bowl and Mercy Lounge, reacted to the assassination attempt of Trump on Facebook, writing in a post, “We were inches away from freedom…”
The Nashville businessman appears to have deleted his Facebook account amid backlash from the post.
Having the freedom to speak doesn't absolve you from the responsibility of what you say. Political violence has no place in Mt. Juliet. @eastsidebowl pic.twitter.com/fejx2bf78r
— Mayor James Maness (@JamesManess) July 14, 2024
Among those denouncing Kinsolving’s post include Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness, who said, “Having the freedom to speak doesn’t absolve you from the responsibility of what you say. Political violence has no place in Mt. Juliet. ”
Many social media users have also called for a boycott of Kinsolving’s businesses.
Kinsolving’s post comes as a select few Tennessee Democratic leaders and elected officials have gone on record mocking the failed assassination attempt of the former president despite a widespread bipartisan condemnation of such political violence.
Tami Sawyer, the Democratic Nominee for Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk, Tennessee State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), and Tennessee State Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) were among the officials who drew extensive criticism for their reactions to Saturday’s shooting, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
Amber Sherman, the president of the Shelby County Young Democrats, also cheered the attempted assassination of Trump, writing in a now-deleted Facebook post, “Not Trump getting shot on my birthday. The gifts just keep coming!!!”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Mercy Lounge” by Mercy Lounge.
When democrats tell you who they are, you should believe them.
Case in point.
Freddie hasn’t said a thing…..pitiful. Nashville needs better leaders.
Nothing new for Democrats.
It’s in their blood and History.
They all wear the Banderite lapel flag.