'White Lives Matter' Rallies: Opponents Outnumber White Nationalists at Tennessee Shout Fests
Doug Stanglin and Stephanie Ingersoll
USA TODAY
5:30 p.m. ET Oct. 28, 2017
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Opponents outnumbered white nationalists Saturday in peaceful "White Lives Matter" rallies in Tennessee that were punctuated by taunts and chants from both sides.
In Shelbyville, the site of the first rally, some 200 white nationalists — met by nearly twice as many counter protesters — carried a Confederate flag and chanted for closed borders and deportations at a mid-morning gathering.
As Brian Culpepper of the National Socialist Movement took the microphone to speak, counter protesters played Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech over their own speaker system, largely drowning out Culpepper's words.
At one point, counter protesters' shouts of "Black Lives Matter" were met by white nationalist chants of "blood and soil."
The two sides, however, were kept well apart as law enforcement officers funneled them onto sidewalks on opposite sides of a four-lane road.
The protesters showed up here and in Shelbyville, 25 miles south, despite comments by Gov. Bill Haslam that "these folks" were not welcome in the state. The rallies had raised fears in the community of a repeat of the Charlottesville, Va., rally in August that turned deadly.
In Murfreesboro, a town of 130,000 people, wary business owners had boarded up windows downtown and residents held a prayer vigil Friday night near the rally site.
On Saturday afternoon, about 600 people — but only around 30 white nationalists — lined Church Street, one of the city's busiest corridors, as counter protesters chanted "refugees are welcome here" and "this is what democracy looks like."
When the formal rally kicked off, the demonstration largely fizzled as the outnumbered white nationalists faced counter protesters across a downtown square with only a 15-foot gap between them.
After exchanging taunts, with counter protesters chanting "Nazis go home" and "shame," most of the crowd dispersed within a half hour.
Organizers of the rallies had said they aimed at protesting refugee resettlement and immigration to Middle Tennessee, specifically noting the presence of Somali and Sudanese people in the region.
In Shelbyville, police Lt. Brian Crews said one man was arrested for disorderly conduct and exhibiting "threatening behavior." While Crews would not identify the man, it was clear that the arrest was made on the white nationalist side of the demonstration, although it was not certain if he was participating with that group.
Members of the League of the South, the white nationalist group that helped organize the "White Lives Matter" rally, carried a sign calling "southern cultural genocide." Michael Hill, president of the league, said "Hail Dixie" and "Hail victory!" over the loudspeakers.
The crowd of mostly men in Shelbyville at mid-morning included some carrying shields or covering their faces with masks or bandanas. Before marching toward the security checkpoint, an organizer asked the group to put their weapons back in the car.
Thor Henderson, a grand officer in Georgia for the International Keystone Knights, a Ku Klux Klan group, said he was marching to bring awareness to the September shooting at a Nashville church.
Some people there had "tradworker" written on their shields — alluding to the Traditionalist Worker Party, another white supremacy group. On their website, that group also listed the shooting as a reason to participate in the rally.
One woman was killed and seven others were injured in the shooting at the Antioch church last month. The suspect, Emanuel Kidega Samson, is a legal U.S. resident from Sudan.
"We've been here marching for the white peoples' rights," said Henderson. "Making a stand and bringing awareness to what's going on ... and maybe we can wake up the general public and just open their eyes."
Some 300 counter protesters were also on hand early, heading to a separate staging location designated by police.
Vegas Longlois came from Birmingham with other members of the Democratic Socialists of America.
“We can't let hate go unchecked in the nation,” said Longlois. The 23-year-old said refugee populations need to know they are supported.
Gov. Haslam said state and local law enforcement officials would be out "in full force" for both rallies.
"We want to send a really clear message that these folks are not welcome in Tennessee," the governor told reporters Friday in Gatlinburg. "If you’re part of the white supremacist movement you’re not somebody that we want in Tennessee."
In addition to demonstrators from the League of the South and the Traditionalist Worker Party, affiliate groups including the National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America, all collectively known as the Nationalist Front, were expected to attend. All are classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as white nationalist and white supremacist groups.
The counter protesters include the loosely organized anti-Fascist group commonly known as Antifa, local faith leaders, interfaith and community organizers as well as other anti-racist organizations.
Officials have said they expect counter protesters to outnumber rally attendees by as much as four times.
The clashes in Charlottesville, Va., in August left a 32-year-old woman dead after a speeding car driven by a white nationalist rally goer slammed into a throng of counter demonstrators. Nineteen people were injured.
Doug Stanglin reported from McLean, Va. Stephanie Ingersoll, Daily News Journal, reported from Murfreesboro, Tenn. Contributing: Natalie Allison, Daily News Journal
USA TODAY
5:30 p.m. ET Oct. 28, 2017
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Opponents outnumbered white nationalists Saturday in peaceful "White Lives Matter" rallies in Tennessee that were punctuated by taunts and chants from both sides.
In Shelbyville, the site of the first rally, some 200 white nationalists — met by nearly twice as many counter protesters — carried a Confederate flag and chanted for closed borders and deportations at a mid-morning gathering.
As Brian Culpepper of the National Socialist Movement took the microphone to speak, counter protesters played Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech over their own speaker system, largely drowning out Culpepper's words.
At one point, counter protesters' shouts of "Black Lives Matter" were met by white nationalist chants of "blood and soil."
The two sides, however, were kept well apart as law enforcement officers funneled them onto sidewalks on opposite sides of a four-lane road.
The protesters showed up here and in Shelbyville, 25 miles south, despite comments by Gov. Bill Haslam that "these folks" were not welcome in the state. The rallies had raised fears in the community of a repeat of the Charlottesville, Va., rally in August that turned deadly.
In Murfreesboro, a town of 130,000 people, wary business owners had boarded up windows downtown and residents held a prayer vigil Friday night near the rally site.
On Saturday afternoon, about 600 people — but only around 30 white nationalists — lined Church Street, one of the city's busiest corridors, as counter protesters chanted "refugees are welcome here" and "this is what democracy looks like."
When the formal rally kicked off, the demonstration largely fizzled as the outnumbered white nationalists faced counter protesters across a downtown square with only a 15-foot gap between them.
After exchanging taunts, with counter protesters chanting "Nazis go home" and "shame," most of the crowd dispersed within a half hour.
Organizers of the rallies had said they aimed at protesting refugee resettlement and immigration to Middle Tennessee, specifically noting the presence of Somali and Sudanese people in the region.
In Shelbyville, police Lt. Brian Crews said one man was arrested for disorderly conduct and exhibiting "threatening behavior." While Crews would not identify the man, it was clear that the arrest was made on the white nationalist side of the demonstration, although it was not certain if he was participating with that group.
Members of the League of the South, the white nationalist group that helped organize the "White Lives Matter" rally, carried a sign calling "southern cultural genocide." Michael Hill, president of the league, said "Hail Dixie" and "Hail victory!" over the loudspeakers.
The crowd of mostly men in Shelbyville at mid-morning included some carrying shields or covering their faces with masks or bandanas. Before marching toward the security checkpoint, an organizer asked the group to put their weapons back in the car.
Thor Henderson, a grand officer in Georgia for the International Keystone Knights, a Ku Klux Klan group, said he was marching to bring awareness to the September shooting at a Nashville church.
Some people there had "tradworker" written on their shields — alluding to the Traditionalist Worker Party, another white supremacy group. On their website, that group also listed the shooting as a reason to participate in the rally.
One woman was killed and seven others were injured in the shooting at the Antioch church last month. The suspect, Emanuel Kidega Samson, is a legal U.S. resident from Sudan.
"We've been here marching for the white peoples' rights," said Henderson. "Making a stand and bringing awareness to what's going on ... and maybe we can wake up the general public and just open their eyes."
Some 300 counter protesters were also on hand early, heading to a separate staging location designated by police.
Vegas Longlois came from Birmingham with other members of the Democratic Socialists of America.
“We can't let hate go unchecked in the nation,” said Longlois. The 23-year-old said refugee populations need to know they are supported.
Gov. Haslam said state and local law enforcement officials would be out "in full force" for both rallies.
"We want to send a really clear message that these folks are not welcome in Tennessee," the governor told reporters Friday in Gatlinburg. "If you’re part of the white supremacist movement you’re not somebody that we want in Tennessee."
In addition to demonstrators from the League of the South and the Traditionalist Worker Party, affiliate groups including the National Socialist Movement and Vanguard America, all collectively known as the Nationalist Front, were expected to attend. All are classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as white nationalist and white supremacist groups.
The counter protesters include the loosely organized anti-Fascist group commonly known as Antifa, local faith leaders, interfaith and community organizers as well as other anti-racist organizations.
Officials have said they expect counter protesters to outnumber rally attendees by as much as four times.
The clashes in Charlottesville, Va., in August left a 32-year-old woman dead after a speeding car driven by a white nationalist rally goer slammed into a throng of counter demonstrators. Nineteen people were injured.
Doug Stanglin reported from McLean, Va. Stephanie Ingersoll, Daily News Journal, reported from Murfreesboro, Tenn. Contributing: Natalie Allison, Daily News Journal
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