Justin Jones and other Nashville leaders denounce white supremacist swastika marchers

Nashville, Tennessee - A hate-filled group marched with swastika flags through downtown Nashville on Saturday, drawing condemnation from a wide range of lawmakers and groups.

Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones expressed his disgust and dismay while sharing a video of a group of white supremacists bearing swastika flags marching through Nashville.
Tennessee state Representative Justin Jones expressed his disgust and dismay while sharing a video of a group of white supremacists bearing swastika flags marching through Nashville.  © Collage: Screenshots/X/Rep. Justin Jones

The demonstrators, wearing red t-shirts and black masks, chanted, "Deportation saves the nation," WKRN-TV reported.

Social media posts condemned the group as cowards, with state legislators from both sides of the aisle chiming in.

"Just left an event honoring a Black sorority and spoke of the need to unite against the rising tide of white supremacy, only to be confronted by Nazis marching through downtown Nashville," Democratic state Representative Justin Jones posted on X.

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"Disgusted that Nazis are comfortable doing this," state Representative Justin Pearson wrote on social media, while Democratic state Representative Aftyn Behn said her office was "closely monitoring" the situation and said that "these groups once relegated to the dark corners now feel empowered to spew their noxious ideology out in the open due to our state’s leadership REFUSING to condemn their speech and actions."

An incredulous Nashville Vice Mayor Angie Henderson also weighed in.

"That I even have to say this. NAZIS are NOT WELCOME in NASHVILLE," she wrote on X. "Get your hateful, dangerous, fascist, Nazi nonsense off our streets & off our beautiful Public Square."

Jewish leaders speak out against Nashville Nazi rally

While Jones, Pearson, and Behn said conservatives enabled such activity, Republican colleagues also condemned the group.

"Go away Nazi thugs. This is Tennessee and you are NOT welcome here," state Representative William Lamberth said on X. "Btw, why not show your faces so we can all see who you are? I would be willing to bet that none of you are from anywhere near here."

Local Jewish leaders decried the incident and said they would not be cowed.

"Yesterday, a group of Nazis decided to publicly intimidate and harass by displaying their hateful imagery through the city," Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville CEO and Rabbi Dan Horwitz said in a Sunday statement obtained by The Tennessean. "They flew flags with swastikas on them. They chanted antisemitic slogans. And they hid their faces with masks, like the cowards they are."

The crowd numbered about two dozen, The Tennessean reported.

"I was heartened by the videos that circulated on social media of everyday folks in our city – most of whom were not Jewish – challenging and calling out these bigots vocally as they spewed their hate," Horwitz told The Tennessean.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshots/X/Rep. Justin Jones

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