Legislators react to ‘Patriot Front’ march in Downtown Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Democratic city and state legislators took to social media to voice their opposition following a march believed to be associated with a white supremacist group flying confederate flags through downtown Nashville over the weekend.

While Democrats have voiced opposition, Republicans in the House and Senate still have not commented on the recent event.

State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) told News 2 that this group has been made to feel welcome through discriminative Tennessee legislative policies.

On Saturday afternoon , over a hundred marchers believed to be a part of a group called “Patriot Front” dawned on matching outfits, masks, shields, and American and Confederate flags.

According to the anti-defamation league, Patriot Front is “a white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America” and left it to them and no one else.

Following the event, city and state leaders took to social media to voice their reactions and responses.

“It was pretty jarring for a lot of us,” Behn said. “We put so much time and effort and invest in our communities to make them as inclusive as possible, only to a mass engagement and rallying of a hate group in our city.”

Mayor Freddie O’Connell posted to Twitter, saying in part: “But what we should all do is refuse to allow this to be normalized. Just because someone is exercising their First Amendment rights does not mean we must accept someone shamelessly identifying as a Nazi as just another American.”

On Monday, Gov. Bill Lee responded to the march, saying the Patriot Front should be condemned at every level.

“I think we have seen anti-Semitism ride up all across this country, unfortunately and sadly,” Lee said. “We should stand against it at every turn and every place, including in our communities.”

However, state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) called out his Republican colleagues, saying they have welcomed these hate groups into the state with racist laws and rhetoric.

Representative Aftyn Behn agreed, claiming Tennessee General Assembly bills formed against the LGBTQ or immigrant communities have only promoted hate and intolerance for marginalized Nashvillians.

“I think that the more we foster a xenophobic culture and continue to codify xenophobic legislation that it will allow groups like ‘The Patriot Front,’ who were yelling in the streets of downtown Nashville, you know, talking about a white America, a white United States,” Behn said. “And down with the Hispanics and Mexicans, and so I think there is a direct line between what is happening at the Tennessee General Assembly and what happened in downtown Nashville on Saturday.”

News 2 contacted the Republican House and Senate for reaction and response. At the time of this article, they had yet to respond.

This is now the second discriminatory march paraded through downtown Nashville — the first occurring in February.

“I think that a blatant neo-Nazi group, with wearing swastikas, with screaming ‘Hail Hitler’ in the street, you can’t deny the white supremacy and the rabid extremism taking place,” Behn explained. “Whereas this group, they were not saying those things and were not overtly neo-Nazis, and so I think a lot of my Republican collogues were not quick to respond.”

Behn said her next steps will continue to advocate for an inclusive community in legislature.

“I think the community response more embodies what Nashville feels in terms of no hate in our state,” Behn explained.

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