Phil Williams of NewsChannel 5 said in a Friday interview on Nashville’s Morning News with Dan Mandis on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN that he once asked State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) to respond to claims made by his former close colleague Jeneisha Harris on June 18, 2020 that he had covered up the sexual assault of two protesters by a homeless man.
“Has anyone asked Justin Jones about this . . . Is that the kind of thing where it would be appropriate for you to ask him,” Mandis asked Williams.
“I did ask him, and because this deals with a someone with whom he was involved in a relationship, he chose not to comment,” Williams responded.
“But, I am not going to go on the air with a story without some solid evidence, and right now, if we’re being honest, there is not solid evidence. There is a Facebook post by someone who wasn’t there, and that’s all we have,” Williams added.
For months, a @997wtn host has tried to convince his listeners that I have ignored “credible allegations” that a Democratic lawmaker covered up two sexual assaults. Thanks to @DanMandisShow for the opportunity to have an actual conversation! pic.twitter.com/ZiUyYqbGFe
— Phil Williams (@NC5PhilWilliams) April 20, 2024
Though Williams told Mandis on Friday he has asked Jones about the allegations, a search of all NewsChannel 5 articles and video broadcasts since June 2020 shows no evidence that Williams has previously reported that he has asked Jones about the allegation, or Jones’ refusal to comment.
The allegation that Jones covered up two sexual assaults was first made by Jeneisha Harris in a June 18, 2020 post to Facebook that has since been deleted.
Harris is a former Tennessee State University student and progressive activist on whom NewsChannel 5 reported several times in 2019 and 2020, and who had previously protested with and been arrested along side of the California-born Jones.
“Last night, a homeless man sexually assaulted two women who were protesting. Two different incidents. Same man,” wrote Harris in 2020. She claimed the assaults were witnessed by “Nashville’s favorite activist, Justin Jones,” and other protest leaders.
At the time, Jones was among protesters seeking the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at the Tennessee State Capitol.
Harris then claimed Jones “said that the women should not report it because it would change the narrative of why they’re actually protesting” and “the incident would overpower the advocacy.”
“So number one, she’s not a first-hand witness so in my mind that’s not enough to accuse someone of covering up a sexual assault,” Williams added.
Williams additionally confirmed that other activists planned to confront the homeless man for his alleged sex crimes instead of involving police.
The claims by Harris were apparently well known within the Nashville progressive activist community from the time they were first made on June 18, 2020, and were reported by Matt Murphy, who hosts the eponymous radio show on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN, in May 2023.
According to Jeneisha Harris, an activist who worked with @brotherjones_ ,he was involved in a sexual assaults cover up in 2020. Look below! pic.twitter.com/XGXzbLWyxK
— Matt Murphy (@mattmurphyshow) May 10, 2023
The 28-year-old Jones was born and raised in California, and relocated to Tennessee to attend Fisk University. After his graduation from Fisk, he enrolled in the Vanderbilt Divinity School. He reportedly remains on extended leave from his graduate studies at Vanderbilt, and completely excised any mention of Harris or the alleged sexual assaults from his 2022 book, The People’s Plaza: Sixty-Two Days of Nonviolent Resistance, published by Vanderbilt University Press.
The book recounts a 62 day period of protests at Legislative Plaza led by Jones that began on June 12, 2020 and ended on August 13, 2020.
The June 18, 2020 allegation by Jones’ former colleague and ally Jeneisha Harris that he covered up a sexual assault the previous evening at the Legislative Plaza is not mentioned in his book, which provides a day by day chronicle of the events during the 62 day protest. The allegation apparently received the contemporary attention of Phillis Isabella Sheppard, who identified herself as “the interim academic dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School,” and remains listed as a tenured professor at Vanderbilt Graduate School.
Sheppard reportedly replied to Harris’ now-deleted post, “these issues are not new in the movement and must be addressed.”
A second Vanderbilt administrator, former Divinity School dean Emilie Townes, reportedly replied to Harris, “We do not teach, condone, or accept sexism, sexual violence, gender and sexual orientation oppression, or silencing. Speak the truth.”
"I am the interim academic dean at Vanderbilt Divinity School and these issues are not new in the movement and must be addressed. We are available to strategize ways to address the broader issues of sexism and sexual violence in activism. Reach out."—Phillis Sheppard @pshepp0593? pic.twitter.com/W9ceOX3SJS
— Megan Lee Writes (@MeganLeeWrites_) May 10, 2023
Harris, though possessing a lower public profile than Jones, continued her activism as recently as January, when she was a keynote speaker at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast at held at West Virginia University.
Jones and Harris were interviewed together in 2019, when they were both quoted in a report by The Tennessee Star about their protests of the bust.
Williams claimed to SuperTalk 99.7 WTN radio host Dan Mandis that Harris did not reply to his press inquiries about her allegations that Jones had helped cover up two sexual assaults.
During the months of June and July of 2020, other reporters at NewsChannel 5 apparently had no problem connecting with and reporting on Harris.
Harris was interviewed by NewsChannel 5 about her activism for seven minutes on June 4, 2020, just two weeks prior to the alleged sexual assaults.
On June 6, 2020, Harris was featured on another NewsChannel 5 report as the person who led a “libation” in honor of George Floyd in downtown Nashville as part of that day’s March for Justice rally. (from the negative 36:00 mark to the negative 33:40 mark)
Harris was also featured in NewsChannel 5 report a little more than a month after she made her claims in a July 30, 2020 interview about her work providing free breakfasts to North Nashville children.
Of the alleged sexual assaults, Williams told Mandis, “One person told me that they really, this is a group that doesn’t believe in involving the police if possible, so they wanted to do something, and it’s a term related to restorative justice. It’s a different term that was given to me.”
Williams then admitted to Mandis that the activists apparently confirmed the incidents took place but did not want the police involved.
“But basically, they wanted to sit down as a first step, with the perpetrator, and tell him about the harm that he had caused and kind of reach a resolution,” Williams confirmed.
He then offered, “Again, if someone were to go on the record, and it’s someone with first hand knowledge, yes I would do that story. If he indeed did cover up a sexual assault. We just don’t know enough.”
Murphy derided Williams’ response on social media, questioning, “I thought women speaking up about sexual assault were to be believed?”
He questioned Williams, “You claim you tracked this story down. Have you asked [Jones] on camera to deny the allegation? Have you asked TN Capitol police if they retain video footage? Have you reached out to Janeisha Harris directly?”
Williams then accused the radio host of “lying” and confirmed he will not appear on Murphy’s radio program.
Nearly four years after the alleged sexual assaults, Williams was just feet away from Jones on Thursday, when the lawmaker left the Tennessee House floor to join protesters in a confrontation with Tennessee State Troopers after a woman refused to leave the gallery following a series of disruptions.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Dan Mandis Interviews Phil Williams” by 99.7FM WTN.
no surprise here at all.
A Californian, 28 yrs old, moves to Nashville, gets elected as a state representative. And raises cain over a bust honoring Nathan Bedford Forrest in the State Capitol Building. Too very bad we cannot deport him back to California.
So, when investigative journalism finds multiple witnesses apparently confirming an incident of sexual assault, and someone accused of instigating a cover up “refuses to comment,” that’s where investigative journalism ends?
When progressives don’t want to talk about a specific incident that is a problem for their cause, they always redirect to “broader issues” or “root causes.”