Category: Tennessee

Brother of Tennessee Lawmaker Seen in Viral Outburst Leads Anti-Elon Musk, xAI Fight in Memphis

Tom Pappert
KeShaun Pearson

The environmental activist organizing opposition to the plan by Elon Musk and xAI to build the world’s largest supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee is KeShawn Pearson, the brother of State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), who recently drew national attention after lunging at a colleague on the floor of the State House.

KeShawn and Justin Pearson were both present at a protest against the facility held on Wednesday outside the Shelby County Health Department, reported News Channel 3. Though the outlet noted their presence, and that KeShawn Pearson is the president of Memphis Community Against Pollution, it did not report that the men are brothers.

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Invalid ID Presented by Kilmar Abrego Garcia Expired Two Months Prior to Tennessee Traffic Stop

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) Report provided to The Tennessee Star by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS), containing a minute-by-minute report of actions taken by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) during Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s traffic stop on November 30, 2022, revealed that the Maryland driver’s license presented by the Salvadoran citizen had been expired for more than two months at the time of the stop.

After The Star first reported that Abrego Garcia was stopped in Tennessee, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed troopers suspected him of human trafficking, and THP told The Star that troopers were instructed to release the illegal immigrant by the “Biden-era FBI.”

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Tennessee State Agency Did Not Explain Redacted Audio in Kilmar Abrego Garcia Body Cam Release

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) on Thursday sent The Tennessee Star two video files and four pages of documents from the November 30, 2022, stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) of El Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has confirmed was suspected of human trafficking by troopers after being pulled over for speeding and failing to maintain his lane.

Despite The Star seeking video recorded by dashboard and body-worn cameras from all of the THP troopers involved in the traffic stop, TDOSHS included only the footage recorded by the trooper responsible for the stop. This is despite at least one of the other troopers’ body-worn cameras being visible in the video released by TDOSHS on Thursday.

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Robby Starbuck Sues Meta for Defamation Over its AI Generating ‘False’ Statements About Criminal Ties to J6 and More, Says Their Apology Isn’t Enough

Rachel Alexander
Robby Starbuck

Meta Platforms Inc., previously Facebook, issued a statement on Tuesday apologizing to filmmaker and former congressional candidate Robby Starbuck after he sued the company for defamation over statements its AI generated that Starbuck criminally to J6. However, Starbuck said in a post on Thursday that the apology wasn’t enough.

In his complaint, which was filed on Tuesday, Starbuck said Meta AI claimed that he was charged with a crime from J6 after entering the U.S. Capitol and filming video — but Starbuck was not at J6. Starbuck’s complaint contained numerous statements from Meta AI that he said were also false, including that he is a Holocaust denier, white nationalist, and suggested that his children be removed from him and placed with someone who doesn’t object to transgender children and DEI.

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Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Says Kilmar Abrego Garcia ‘Hauling These People for Money’ in Body Camera Footage

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Body camera footage obtained by The Tennessee Star on Thursday as the result of an Open Records Request filed with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) reveals Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers discuss their suspicion that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was “hauling these people for money” during the November 30, 2022 traffic stop of the vehicle he was driving in Cookeville, Tennessee. 

It also shows the moment THP released Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran citizen deported by the Trump administration in March, at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI.”

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Vehicle Driven by Kilmar Abrego Garcia in TN 2022 Traffic Stop Registered in Texas, Where Human Smuggler Who Owned it Lived in 2019

Tom Pappert
Garcia traffic stop

A response to two Open Records Requests filed by The Tennessee Star with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS), the agency that oversees the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), revealed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle registered in Texas when he was stopped in Cookeville, Tennessee on November 30, 2022 and suspected of human trafficking.

Though the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed the vehicle driven by Abrego Garcia was registered to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, a convicted human smuggler who was arrested in 2019 on a trip from Houston, Texas, to the east coast, much of the information about the vehicle was redacted in the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) report generated by the Tennessee Highway Patrol for The Star.

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Terrorist-Designated Jalisco Cartel, Now Active in Tennessee, Faces New Sanctions Under Trump Treasury Department

Tom Pappert
Cesar Morfin Morfin

The U.S. Treasury Department and Secretary Scott Bessent placed new sanctions on individuals accused of involvement with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, or the Jalisco Cartel, a Mexico-based criminal organization that is active in Tennessee and across the country.

A Thursday press release explained the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned three Mexican nationals and two Mexican entities for their alleged involvement in what the Treasury described as, “a drug trafficking and fuel theft network” linked to the Jalisco Cartel.

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Records Delay Sparks Concerns Tennessee Department of Safety is ‘Concealing’ Role in Releasing Kilmar Abrego Garcia During 2022 Traffic Stop, Reporter Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tennessee Highway Patrol

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s continued withholding of materials requested by The Star of the 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by Tennessee Highway Patrol officers raises concerns that the state agency is avoiding releasing potentially embarrassing records related to its involvement and cooperation with Biden-era policy failures.

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Ford CEO Says Construction of Tennessee Factory Continues, Company’s Focus on U.S. Production Means ‘Different Exposure for Tariffs’

Tom Pappert
Jim Farley

Ford CEO Jim Farley said on Wednesday that the automobile company is continuing production of its new factories in Tennessee and Ohio despite economic uncertainty amid President Donald Trump’s trade policy, arguing that the company’s American facilities offer a “different exposure for tariffs” compared to other car companies. “We’re building new plants in Ohio and Tennessee,” said Farley when asked by CNN host Erin Burnett whether the Trump administration’s policies would bring manufacturing back to the United States. “We’re number two to Tesla in electric vehicles and number three in hybrids behind the Japanese competitors.” Ford’s BlueOval City factory began development in 2021, and is slated to begin production this year, with full production of next-generation electric vehicles to start in 2027. “Whether it’s a V8 F-150 or an EcoBoost F-150, we want people to have choices. We’re building two brand-new factories in the U.S., and we’re already the most American company,” Farley added. The remarks by Farley come as the executive previously suggested Trump’s tariffs aimed at Canada and Mexico would have a “huge impact” on the American car industry. “There is no question that tariffs at 25% level from Canada and Mexico, if they’re protracted, would have a…

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Illegal Immigrant Convicted in East Tennessee Court for Murdering Girlfriend Before Sleeping Next to Body

Tom Pappert
Jose Angel Rios Ramirez

Jose Angel Rios Ramirez, who a county official described as an illegal immigrant, was convicted on Tuesday for the 2022 murder of Olivia Jarquin Pena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In a Facebook post, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp shared that Rios Ramirez was convicted by a Hamilton County jury on Tuesday, describing the victory for prosecutors as one of many “cases that no one ever hears about.”

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Failure of Highway Patrol to Notify TBI After Suspecting Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Human Trafficking Appears to Contradict Standard Procedure

Tom Pappert
TBI agents

The Tennessee Star was the first to report that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the recently deported citizen of El Salvador, was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol and suspected of human trafficking in December 2022, with the agency ultimately confirming the “Biden-era FBI” instructed officers to release Abrego Garcia and his eight passengers, despite their suspicions of human trafficking and him presenting an invalid driver’s license. 

The decision by highway patrol not to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which is empowered by state statute to train law enforcement officers how to detect human trafficking, and to investigate human trafficking cases across the state, appears to contradict established procedures.

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Nashville Unveils Housing Plan to ‘Keep Homeowners in Their Homes’ as Mayor Freddie O’Connell Plans Reported 30 Percent Property Tax Hike

Tom Pappert
Nashville

The Metro Nashville government on Tuesday released its Unified Housing Strategy (UHS), which the city described as “a comprehensive roadmap” plan for local governments, nonprofits, and developers to build and expand “safe, stable, and affordable housing for all Nashvillians.”

The culmination of a process that began in 2021, city documents explain its UHS contains seven strategies, including realigning “Nashville’s housing ecosystem” to meet the city’s needs, increased support for affordable housing, the creation of new affordable housing, offering permanent housing options to homeless people, keeping housing affordable, and keeping “homeowners in their home” while creating “more opportunities for sustainable home ownership and growth.”

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Now Under Active Investigation by U.S. Department of Justice, Claims Tennessee State Agency

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to comment on its active investigation into Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador deported last month, after two attorneys with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) informed The Tennessee Star of the federal investigation on Tuesday. 

The revelation that Abrego Garcia is subject to an active investigation made to The Star after it inquired about the status of the Open Records Request filed on April 17 by Michael Patrick Leahy with TDOSHS, which the agency effectively denied due to its failure to respond within seven business days, as required by the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA).

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Border Czar Tom Homan Disputes Deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia was ‘Error,’ Repudiates Claim by Fired DOJ Lawyer

Tom Pappert
Tom Homan

Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, who officially serves as the White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, on Monday disputed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filing which asserted Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador last month “in error.”

Despite being deemed likely to be a member of the Central American gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Abrego Garcia has denied this, and in 2019 received a final deportation order that included a “withholding of removal” precluding his deportation to one of two nations, either Guatemala or El Salvador. Abrego Garcia argues this order was violated by his removal last month, and a former DOJ attorney stated in a legal filing that he was deported as the result of an “administrative error.”

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Barrio 18 Threat Justified ‘Withholding of Removal’ for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Yet Maryland Released Gang Member Near His Family

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones granted Kilmar Abrego Garcia in 2019 a “withholding of removal” order after, claiming the risk the citizen of El Salvador would face persecution at the hands of Central American gang Barrio 18 was too high for him to be deported to Guatemala, according to the text of the order. However, Abrego Garcia has maintained the order applied to El Salvador.

Though concerns related to the presence of Barrio 18 were enough for Jones to issue the “withholding of removal,” the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections last year released a Salvadoran national, Brayan Eleazar Angulo-Barrios, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who reported it filed a request to detain him in April 2024.

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Fired DOJ Lawyer Blamed Trump Admin in Abrego Garcia Case, but Did Not Raise ‘Guatemala’ Mention in ‘Withholding of Removal’ Order

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Erez Reuveni, the attorney who was fired by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after stating in a legal filing that the Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador as the result of “an administrative error,” complained to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis that he was “frustrated” by the lack of information supplied by his client, the federal government under the Trump administration, regarding the reason for the Salvadoran’s deportation to his homeland.

Reuveni did not note that the final deportation order signed by U.S. Immigration Judge David A. Jones in 2019 included a “withholding of removal” order that forbade his deportation to one of two nations, either Guatemala or El Salvador.

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Open Records Request for 2022 Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Denied by Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Without Explanation

Tom Pappert
Garcia traffic stop

The Open Records Request filed on April 17 by Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, seeking video and written records from the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in December 2022, was denied on Monday without explanation by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS). 

The Tennessee Public Records Act provides state agencies with seven business days to respond to valid Open Records Requests, and explicitly states that “[f]ailure to respond to the request” constitutes “a denial,” which gives Leahy the right to sue to compel the agency to take action.

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Tennessee House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett Remarks on ‘Successful’ 2025 Legislative Session

Kaitlin Housler
State Rep Johnny Garrett

Tennessee House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) reflected on the recently-adjourned 2025 legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly during a conversation Friday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy where he applauded state lawmakers for their “successful” work, specifically when it came to passing a “good conservative budget.”

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Judge Who Granted ‘Withholding of Removal’ for Kilmar Abrego Garcia Helped Train Lawyers to Represent Illegal Immigrants

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The immigration judge who issued the final deportation order that included a “withholding of removal” for Abrego Kilmar Garcia, the illegal immigrant and alleged member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) who was deported last month by the Trump administration, previously volunteered to serve as the judge for a mock court session meant to train lawyers to defend illegal immigrants. 

U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones was listed by the Maryland Pro Bono Resource Center, an organization partnered with the Maryland State Bar Association, on an event page for its “Representing Asylum Seekers Model Hearing” event held on February 20, 2020.

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Mississippi Traffic Stop of Human Smuggler Who Owned Car Driven by Kilmar Abrego Garcia Differed Wildly from 2022 Tennessee Incident

Tom Pappert
HSI Traffic Stop Arrest

Court records documenting the charges levied against human smuggler and illegal immigrant Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, obtained by The Tennessee Star on Wednesday, illustrate a stark contrast between the traffic December 4, 2019 stop of the vehicle containing Hernandez Reyes, and the December 1, 2022 stop by Tennessee Highway Patrol of a vehicle owned by Hernandez Reyes but operated by the citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month under the Trump administration, Kilmar Abrego Garcia.

The Star was first to report last week that Abrego Garcia was stopped by highway patrol in 2022, when he was transporting eight passengers from Texas to Maryland, with a claimed journey through Missouri, before reaching Tennessee.

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Judge Who Granted ‘Withholding of Removal’ Order for Kilmar Abrego Garcia Favored Asylum Claims in Arrest City

Tom Pappert
Judge rules in court

U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones, who wrote the final deportation order which granted a “withholding of removal” for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, appeared to have favored asylum claims brought before him in the city where the deported citizen of El Salvador was arrested in 2019. 

Legal decisions tracked by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research organization at Syracuse University, reveal that Jones served on both the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts from 2019 until 2024, the period covered by its most recent report.

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Convicted Human Smuggler, Illegal Immigrant Who Owned Van Driven by Kilmar Abrego Garcia Claimed to Once Live in Maryland

Tom Pappert
Passengers in a van

It was reported on Wednesday that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador who was deported by the Trump administration last month but previously lived in Maryland as an illegal immigrant, was driving a vehicle owned by Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes when he was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in December 2022, and subsequently released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” despite officers at the scene suspecting he was engaged in human trafficking.

Hernandez Reyes is another citizen of El Salvador who was illegally residing in the United States prior to his 2020 conviction for human smuggling, and the preceding criminal complaint filed by a Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reveals Hernandez Reyes told law enforcement “he previously lived in Maryland, but now lives in Houston Texas.”

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Tennessee Department of Safety’s Continued Slow Walk of Materials Related to 2022 Traffic Stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Suggests Cover Up of Biden-Era FBI Failure, Reporter Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tennessee Department of Safety Administrator Jell Long

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said that the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security’s continued slow walk of releasing information requested by The Star of the 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County of Kilmar Abrego Garcia by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officers suggests that the state agency is participating in a cover up of Biden-era Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) failures.

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President Trump Announces He is Suing Progressive Law Firm Perkins Coie for ‘Egregious and Unlawful Acts,’ Singles Out One Attorney

Rachel Alexander
President Donald Trump

President Donald Trump said in a post on TruthSocial on Wednesday that he is suing the Democratic law firm Perkins Coie for “egregious and unlawful acts.” Previously, Trump issued an executive order on March 6 titled “Addressing Risks from Perkins Coie LLP,” which suspended the attorneys’ security clearances, restricted them from entering federal buildings, and terminated the firm’s federal government contacts.

“I’m suing the law firm of Perkins Coie for their egregious and unlawful acts, in particular the conduct of a specific member of this firm, only to find out that the Judge assigned to this case is Beryl Howell, an Obama appointment, and a highly biased and unfair disaster,” he said. Trump did not name the attorney he was referring to. Howell is presiding over the firm’s lawsuit challenging his executive order.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Slams ‘Sloppy’ 2019 Deportation Order of Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, suggests the 2019 deportation order of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the El Salvadoran who was deported by the Trump administration last month, authorized by former U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones is widely to blame for the current confusion surrounding Abrego Garcia’s deportation to El Salvador.

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Reporter Calls Out Law Enforcement Agencies amid Stalling of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Records Request

Kaitlin Housler
MPL and Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, suggests the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security appears to be prioritizing federal interests and Biden-era policies over state enforcement or transparency as it slow walks two Open Records Requests filed by The Star seeking materials related to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador who was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in 2022 and deported by the Trump administration last month.

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Tom Zawistowski Calls on Catholic Church to Elect ‘Firebrand’ Pope

Kaitlin Housler
vatican

Tom Zawistowski, president of the Ohio-based We the People Convention, said he is hoping for a deliberative, thoughtful process within the Catholic Church that results in bold leadership moving forward following the death of Pope Francis.

Francis, who was elected pope in March 2013 after Pope Benedict XVI made the decision to step down from the chair of Saint Peter, died on Monday at 88 years old.

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Likely 2022 Travel Path of Kilmar Abrego Garcia Includes Texas County Known for Controversial Colony Ridge Development

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia Cleveland

Before being stopped in Tennessee for allegedly speeding and failing to maintain his lane while transporting eight people from Texas to Maryland, Salvadoran citizen Kilmar Abrego Garcia likely passed through Liberty County, Texas, the location of the controversial housing development, Colony Ridge.

Colony Ridge allegedly caters to illegal immigrants, specifically offering homes to those who would ordinarily be unable to qualify for a mortgage due to their status as non-citizens, and was the scene of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid earlier this year, which led to the arrests of more than 100, including a previously deported member of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia Drove Vehicle Registered to Convicted Human Trafficker During 2022 Traffic Stop in Tennessee, Court Records Confirm

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Dodge Caravan

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was transporting eight passengers from Houston, Texas to Temple Hills, Maryland using a vehicle owned by an illegal immigrant who was convicted of human trafficking and deported from the United States to his country of origin, El Salvador.

Less than one week after The Tennessee Star reported that Abrego Garcia was stopped by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in late 2022, and released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI” despite being suspected of human trafficking, transporting nine passengers, and operating the vehicle without a valid license, Just the News reported that Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle registered to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes.

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Abrego Garcia Drove SUV Owned by Convicted Human Smuggler, Court Documents Confirm

Just the News
Garcia traffic stop

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deported El Salvadoran at the center of the Trump administration’s immigration battle with the courts, was stopped by police in an SUV owned by a man who was himself deported after pleading guilty to smuggling illegal aliens in 2020, according to court and Homeland Security Department intelligence documents reviewed by Just the News.

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Tennessee Highway Patrol Officers Who Let Kilmar Abrego Garcia Go at the Direction of Biden’s FBI During 2022 Traffic Stop ‘Did Nothing Wrong,’ Retired Patrol Officer Says

Kaitlin Housler
Police traffic stop

Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, spoke with a retired Virginia patrol officer about the 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month under President Donald Trump, on Tuesday’s edition of his radio talk show.

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Immigration Judge’s 2019 Order Found Kilmar Abrego Garcia ‘Subject to Removal’ by Deportation But Granted ‘Withholding of Removal’ to Guatemala, Though Referencing El Salvador

Tom Pappert
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

The Tennessee Star on Tuesday obtained the final deportation order issued by former U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones in 2019, which also granted “withholding of removal” relief, showing the judge appeared to prohibit immigration authorities from deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Guatemala, not to El Salvador, where he was born and remains a citizen.

According to the order, Abrego Garcia was given a Notice to Appear (NTA) on March 29, 2019, after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleged that he is not a citizen of the United States, but instead “a native and citizen of El Salvador,” who entered the United States but was not “admitted or paroled after inspection by an immigration officer,” making his entry illegal.

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Michael Patrick Leahy Ridicules Efforts by House Democrats to Bring Back MS-13 Gang Member Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Kaitlin Housler
Kilmar Abrego Garcia

Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, ridiculed the efforts by Democratic lawmakers to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the alleged MS-13 gang member and citizen of El Salvador who was deported last month, back to the U.S.

On Monday, Democratic U.S. Representatives Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-03), and Maxine Dexter (D-OR-03) traveled to El Salvador as part of a continuing effort from the left to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return to Maryland.

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