Nashville struggles to respond as neo-Nazi groups turn focus on to city

Residents of Nashville, Tennessee, are struggling to find ways to respond to a sudden upsurge in neo-Nazi and white supremacist activity in the city as small groups of extremists have descended on the community carrying swastika flags, chanting “Sieg Heil” and handing out flyers saying “Diversity means fewer white people”.

Over the past two weeks, neo-Nazi groups and affiliated organizations, including the Patriot Front and a network calling itself the Goyim Defense League, have staged antisemitic stunts in the city center – including stopping passersby and asking them if they are Jewish. They have also disrupted a city council meeting.

While the groups have first amendment rights of free assembly, political and law enforcement leaders have encouraged residents to avoid engaging with the far-right extremists, as to do so would play into their desire for attention.

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On Sunday, about 400 people gathered in Bicentennial Park for a peace rally in an attempt to present a positive alternative message to the hate. The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville, which organized the event under the hashtag #NashvilleTogether, said: “We stood up for kindness, decency and respect in the face of bigotry, cruelty and dangerous propaganda being spread by those who want to promote a Nazi agenda.”

Nashville has become a popular destination in recent months for outside far-right and antisemitic groups convening online. It appears to have been cherrypicked by the neo-Nazis because of its status as a Democratic-run city surrounded by staunchly conservative rural areas.

The extremists have also been emboldened by a rash of recent anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-transgender legislation moved by Republicans in the state legislature, including a bill to ban Pride flags in public schools.

The city’s police chief, John Drake, said he had intelligence that the Goyim Defense League had taken up temporary residence in Scottsville, Kentucky, about 65 miles (105km) away. The group is described by the Anti-Defamation League as a loose network of white supremacists and antisemites who specialize in harassing Jewish people.

Drake urged people to “resist the temptation to engage with them”. He added: “The group is equipped with video cameras to further its messaging on internet platforms.”

A presage of the trouble occurred in February when more than 20 neo-Nazis brandishing swastikas led by a group called Blood Tribe marched down Nashville’s downtown streets. The current flurry of events began on 6 July when neo-Nazi members of the Patriot Front carrying large Confederate flags rallied outside the Tennessee state capitol.

“Shame on my Republican colleagues who continue to welcome these hate groups to our state with racist laws and rhetoric,” the Democratic state lawmaker Justin Jones said in response.

At least three other disruptions have occurred in the past two weeks led by the Goyim Defense League, which entered a public meeting of the Nashville-Davidson county metro council on 16 July. According to the Nashville Scene, the group of about 30 people, all wearing “Whites Against Replacement” T-shirts, had come from as far as Florida, Colorado and parts of Canada with the mission of promoting antisemitism.

The city council has introduced measures to try to limit the damage caused by the hate groups. A bill has been introduced to ban local police department employees from associating with them.

“This council and Nashville government condemns all forms of hate. When you come for one of us, you come for all of us,” a council member, Zulfat Suara, told the Nashville Scene.