Tag: League of the South

No Arrests at ‘White Lives Matter’ Rally in Murfreesboro as League of the South Leaders Fail to Show Up

Tennessee Star Staff

A heavy law enforcement presence and a well planned security strategy kept a tiny group of League of the South members separated from an estimated 1,000 counter protesters in Murfreesboro on Saturday. The event ended peacefully with no arrests, the Murfreesboro Police Department confirmed at about 3:45 p.m. Leaders from the League of the South, who had obtained a permit to hold a rally from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the square cancelled their talk at 3 p.m. About an hour earlier, a small group from the organization, numbering no more than thirty, held forth for about 45 minutes from within the heavily protected permit area on the lawn outside the Rutherford County Courthouse. Though they delivered their message, few heard it, and the counter protesters that did shouted back and forth across two lines of barricades and dozens of armed officers from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office dressed in full riot gear. The Murfreesboro Police Department stated after the rally that about 800 to 1,000 counter protesters showed up. Several hundred law enforcement officers from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Murfreesboro Police Department, and the Tennessee State Police presented an overwhelming display of force, which no one from…

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One Arrested at ‘White Lives Matter’ Rally in Shelbyville as Police Maintain Order

Wendy Wilson

One arrest was made at the “White Lives Matter” rally in Shelbyville today, reports WTVC NewsChannel 9. “Reporters on the scene said the man was protesting on the white nationalist side of the rally. The man’s father has since reached out to Fox 17 News and said his son was a counter-protester,” according to NewsChannel 9. Around 200 to 300 white nationalists were demonstrating at the event, and the number of counter demonstrators was nearly double that, according to WTVC. There were no reports of counter demonstrators getting out of line. Some stood with signs reading “Black Lives Matter,” “Refugees Welcome” and “No Hate in Our State.” Others cursed at the white nationalists, who chanted “Blood and Soil” and other slogans. The Shelbyville event, which started mid-morning, is wrapping up, but a similar white nationalist rally is planned for Murfreesboro this afternoon. The rallies were organized by the League of the South and allied groups. Law enforcement in both Shelbyville and Murfreesboro had planned in advance to be out in force to prevent the rallies from spiraling out of control as happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August. Many in Middle Tennessee have denounced the white nationalist groups in recent days, including government…

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Murfreesboro Square a Secured Ghost Town as Rally Start Delayed

Admin

Tight security prevailed in Murfreesboro as an estimated 200 protesters waited to go through tightened security to attend a permitted White Lives Rally of the League of the South. The rally, scheduled for 1 pm, has not begun as of 1:20 pm. Rutherford county sheriffs dept officers and Murfreesboro police appeared to outnumber the protesters. They formed a protective barrier within a manmade moat of fences that separated protesters from the League of the South.   DEVELOPING…

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Tennessee Southern Baptist Leaders Denounce ‘White Lives Matter’ Rallies in Murfreesboro and Shelbyville

Wendy Wilson

Tennessee Southern Baptist leaders this week denounced the “White Lives Matter” rallies planned for today in Murfreesboro and Shelbyville, reports Baptist Press. A group of ethnically diverse Baptist leaders gathered in Franklin Wednesday to make a public statement about the rallies organized by the League of the South and allied groups. “We don’t call press conferences very often but we believe it is impossible to stand silently by while the white supremacy movement plans to invade our state and perpetrate its evil Saturday (Oct. 28) in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. The League of the South has said it is demonstrating “to call attention to the continuing influx of African immigrants/refugees into middle Tennessee, and to protest the recent black-on-white church shooting in Antioch.” Davis said that “we are not making making a political statement today. That is not our intent. We are, however, prayerful that our governmental leaders will write laws that both offer security to America and are fair to all who seek shelter within her borders.” Davis challenged the idea that evangelicals are racists, saying that evangelical churches “are full of compassionate, loving people who are quite…

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Murfreesboro, Shelbyville Brace for ‘White Lives Matter’ Rallies and Counter Demonstrations

Wendy Wilson

Murfreesboro and Shelbyville are bracing for Saturday’s “White Lives Matter” rallies that have already drawn widespread attention. Officials have issued public safety plans and people are organizing counter protests to challenge the messages of the League of the South and other similar extremist groups. Tensions heading into the Middle Tennessee rallies are high given the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August between white supremacists and radical leftist counter demonstrators. The League of the South describes itself on its website as a “Southern Nationalist organization that seeks the survival, well being, and independence of the Southern people.” The group’s leader, Michael Hill, says the group is demonstrating “to call attention to the continuing influx of African immigrants/refugees into middle Tennessee, and to protest the recent black-on-white church shooting in Antioch.” The group has allied itself with the Nationalist Front, National Socialist Movement (NSM) and the Traditionalist Workers Party (TWP). The Murfreesboro Police Department and Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department released a joint statement Wednesday about the rally set to be held in the city’s downtown public square Saturday afternoon. The statement said the departments “will partner with federal, state, and other local law enforcement agencies to ensure the constitutional rights and safety of citizens.” The…

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