A Black Lives Matter demonstrator is arrested at the state Capitol on Sunday afternoon
Sunday afternoon in downtown Nashville was marked by multiple protests, along with the arrests of dozens of Black Lives Matter activists on the steps of the state Capitol. Many of the activists have been camped out at Legislative Plaza for more than two weeks, calling on Gov. Bill Lee to discuss with them issues of racial justice and the removal of a Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Capitol.
Around 1 p.m., a group of counter-protesters rallying under the name Back the Badge met at the opposite end of the plaza in support of the police.
“The purpose of today’s rally isn’t to pick a fight,” said Back the Badge co-organizer Chase Williams, addressing a crowd of a few dozen at the south end of the plaza before leading them in prayer.
Some of the pro-cop demonstrators waved Blue Lives Matter flags, Gadsden flags and pro-Trump signage. A woman at a table nearby gathered signatures to recall Nashville Mayor John Cooper as well as the 32 members of the Metro Council who recently voted in favor of Nashville’s property tax increase. At one point, the group applauded a gathering of nearby bicycle police.
All throughout the roughly 90-minute Back the Badge rally, Black Lives Matter supporters drove by on Union Street, honking their car horns and drowning out many of the event’s speakers and chants. Tensions grew as some members of the two factions met in the middle of the plaza, shouting each other down and countering one another’s chants.
Ultimately, those tensions amounted to little more than standoffs and shouting matches, with the Back the Badge event beginning to dissipate around 2:30 p.m.
Not long after, back at the Capitol steps — in the area protesters have claimed under the name Ida B. Wells Plaza, in honor of the Black journalist and civil rights leader — tensions once again mounted between activists and state troopers. Those tensions led to the criminal trespassing arrests of 38 demonstrators who were standing on or seated near the wall surrounding the Capitol building. Two of those arrested were juveniles and were released to their parents.
Also among those arrested was prominent local activist Justin Jones, who has been at the center of the Black Lives Matter protests and calling for a dialogue with Gov. Lee for weeks.
See photos from yesterday's events, taken by Ray Di Pietro, below.
