Metro Council passed, and Mayor Freddie O’Connell signed, four ordinances designed to deter hate groups coming into Nashville, as some did over the summer, demonstrating in front of West End Synagogue and downtown businesses, and disrupted a Metro Council meeting. Some groups wore face masks, others demonstrated and hung antisemitic signs on overpasses. This was in addition to the group that littered private homes with antisemitic fliers over the last couple of years. Metro Council member Sheri Weiner (District 22), says, “If you look at those four, what it does, it just gives the police and the courts more teeth. We didn’t have enough teeth for the police to grab hold of. That was one of the biggest problems we saw.”
The ordinances include changes that will:
- restrict the solicitation or distribution of handbills on private property to daylight hours,
- create exemptions for wearing masks or disguises in public, including health and sincerely held beliefs,
- create buffer zones around public buildings and parking lots,
- prohibit placement of unauthorized signs, signals, or markings above a highway.
Weiner says each of those ordinances had approximately 19 sponsors, which amounts to nearly half of the entire council. “The hope here is that these new measures offer more of a deterrent to people showing up. But if you show up, you can’t hide your identity. And that was one of the things they were doing.”
What comes next, says Weiner, both in the hands of the police and the courts. She says both she and Judge Dan Eisenstein were asked by District Attorney Glenn Funk to provide continuing education for his staff. “It is about how important these bills are, and about how you keep from re-victimizing victims of hate speech and antisemitic behavior, and anti-islamophobia.” She adds that the goal was to be inclusive of all victims in order to best protect free speech.
Eisenstein says overall the language in the ordinances is good, but there are limitations since these are not criminal statutes. “The issue is these are Metro ordinances, which are civil offenses. The maximum fine is $50 and costs. Getting them enforced can also be tricky.” Nevertheless, he says it is important to be prepared in how to get violations implemented.
Eisenstein and Weiner plan to share with the DA’s staff the importance to the Jewish community of enforcing these ordinances. “We will discuss the feelings of people in our community about what’s going on,” says Eisenstein, “I think the DA’s office is very sensitive to this and responsive.” But he says it is incumbent on the police to cite offenders, or make arrests, and then testify in court.
The police department, for its part, is pleased to have the additional tools to assist them. Don Aaron is the public affairs director for the Metro Nashville Police Department. He says especially for those groups who come from outside Nashville, the ordinances send a clear message, “The actions of the administration and the approval by the Council of these four ordinances is further testament to the fact that Nashville does not appreciate the perpetuation of hate in our community.”
Aaron also says during the incidents that occurred over the summer the police were also subjected to hate speech. “Nashville needs to know that our men and women were there. They didn’t turn away. They were engaged in ensuring the public safety was maintained. And should there be a return, they will do the same thing.”
Another concern, according to Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, is keeping the peace during an election year, and a time of global tensions. “At a time when global events have impacted local communities in ways that seem to fray even our local social fabric, we wanted to take steps that were meaningful, that would reduce the likelihood of public demonstrations, public interactions becoming violent.” He adds those were his primary goals for signing these ordinances.
When drafting the language for the ordinances, O’Connell echoed Weiner’s focus on protecting free speech, while ensuring the bills are effective. He says he believes freedom of expression is an important part of culture in America, as well as political and faith culture. “The hardest conversation I had through some of these episodes of hate groups deciding that it was appropriate to visit Nashville and publicly demonstrate their hateful ideology and rhetoric is that under that profound power they frequently have the right to do so.” He says he took an approach that look at violence prevention at its core. His legal team worked with a first amendment specialist to ensure the steps they took would be substantively legal if ever challenged.
The mayor also cited concerns for public safety in the wake of the war in the Middle East and the local tensions that have become heightened. “We still want anybody attending services, attending community events in our faith communities to know they are safe there.”
Despite holding a non-partisan office and being mindful of the separation of church and state, O’Connell says interfaith dialogue is a long-standing tradition in Nashville. “This has been a really hard year in that regard. I have so many close friends and relationships spread across the faith communities, and different racial and ethnic communities in Nashville and when there are clashes that cause division it’s really challenging personally.” He references his own Jewish heritage and says he has enjoyed observing the many interfaith activities the local Jewish community has participated in. “Well into the past year, the hardest thing to hear from people was, ‘Hey can we come together?’ From all corners the refrain was, ‘It’s too soon.’”
O’Connell says the number one job of government is to keep people safe. “One of the things that has challenged my outlook on that somewhat is that I feel very satisfied with the ways we were able to keep people physically safe. But what I learned through much of the past year is that it’s much harder to keep people emotionally safe.”
The Jewish Observer is published by The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville and made possible by funds raised in the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. Become a supporter today.