Tag: Ray Stevens

Members of a far-left group called the Tennessee Activist Coalition live streamed a video last weekend on their Facebook page promising viewers a citizens’ arrest of both Marsha Blackburn and keynote speaker Lindsey Graham. “Tennessee voters have shown up at a Republican GOTV rally to perform a citizens’ arrest on Marsha Blackburn & Lindsey Graham,”  self-described journalist Taralei Griffin wrote in a post last Sunday on the Tennessee Activist Coalition Facebook page as she initiated a livestream from inside Nashville’s CabaRay Theater as the rally began. That planned arrest, of course, never happened. With private security and law enforcement everywhere, it is highly unlikely members of this group could have carried out their mission. Whether they planned to use force is unknown. They never got a chance to carry out their objectives. That’s because members of the Tennessee GOP recognized one protestor, Justin Jones, 23, at the Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom, from previous encounters and had him removed. The group’s plans to carry out the arrest evidently unraveled at that point. According to its Facebook page, the Tennessee Activist Coalition is a far-left group with more than 5,700 followers around the state. The group lists an official website, apart from social media, but,…

Nashville Metro Police Department spokesman Don Aaron told The Tennessee Star on Monday city court officials refused to issue an arrest warrant for Justin Jones, the man who made national headlines and caused the biggest disruption at the Marsha Blackburn and Lindsey Graham political rally Sunday. “Justin Jones was physically arrested and transported downtown where the officer requested warrants for the offenses of criminal trespassing, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. The judicial commissioner refused to issue the warrants and instructed the officer to charge Mr. Jones with only criminal trespassing by citation. As reported to us the commissioner’s name is Carolyn Piphus,” Aaron told The Star. “I have no information on why she did that.” Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said that the video and photographic evidence clearly shows Jones resisting arrest and physically assaulting those attending the event and fighting with the police officer. “The fact that the judicial commissioner refused to issue the warrants requested by the police officer raises a serious question about whether she was motivated by partisan political considerations,”  Gill said. “Is there a blue thumb being placed on the scales of justice in Nashville courts?” Gill asked. “It is hard to believe that…

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina visited Nashville Sunday to campaign for Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07)  and express disgust over how Democrats treated Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court nomination hearings. “They played dirty. They lost,” Graham said at a press conference that followed a Marsha Blackburn for U.S. Senate rally at Ray Stevens CabaRay Showroom. “Because of what they did, I really want them to pay a price at the ballot box.” Graham said the adversarial nature of Kavanaugh’s U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings so appalled him he decided to take up for Republican U.S. Senate candidates whenever and wherever he’s welcome. Blackburn is running as a Republican against former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat. Some of Bredesen’s supporters showed up — and, for their behavior got dragged out while cussing, screaming, punching, and even kicking. This, of course, mirrored much of how leftists behaved during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings. One protester even disrupted a moment of silence for victims of Saturday’s mass shooting in Pittsburgh. That protester, a female, screamed “Marsha Blackburn is a white supremacist.” Security promptly showed her the door. The incident appalled Blackburn. “How despicable that you cannot even have…