Tennessee

Tension Mounts; Stun Gun, Police Dogs Used At Sandisfield Pipeline Protest

November 7, 2017 Heather Bellow, berkshireeagle.com Resist! Pipelines, Protests, Tennessee

By Heather Bellow for The Berkshire Eagle - SANDISFIELD — On the very day the pipeline company got permission to put its new third line in service here, three anti-pipeline activists were arrested for blocking a road, and witnesses say Massachusetts State Police used a stun gun on one man when he tried to run during an arrest. For the first time since the protests began nearly six months ago, Massachusetts State Police K-9 units were leashed and at the ready, and so was an ambulance as activists formed blockades on either side of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. headquarters on Beech Plain Road. The man, whom The Eagle has not yet been able to identify, was transferred from a state police cruiser to the ambulance for a medical check roughly 30 minutes after the episode. Though the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Tuesday gave Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. permission to flow gas on Wednesday, the political atmosphere of friendly protests and arrests here is increasingly curdling into one of barely concealed hostility. A group of water protectors, many who had been previously entrenched at Standing Rock, N.D. to fight the Dakota Access Pipeline, are using a more unpredictable and aggressive approach to pipeline resistance than their much-older fellow activists from the Sugar Shack Alliance.

Lessons From Tennessee: Confront Hate And Win

October 31, 2017 Zach D. Roberts, nationofchange.org Resist! Racism, Tennessee, White Nationalism

By Zach D. Roberts for Nation of Change - Outnumbered by more than three to one and late for their own event, the White Lives Matter demonstrators left. If we should learn anything from this weekend in Shelbyville and Murfreesboro it’s confronting hate works. Saturday in Shelbyville, anti-fascists confronted the planned “White Lives Matter” rally with larger numbers and a peaceful, if not mocking tone. Hundreds of counterprotesters outnumbered at least 3 to 1 the mixed bag of white supremacists, Nazi’s and League of the South members. Clearly learning from the mistakes of Charlottesville, Shelbyville Police made certain to keep the two opposing sides far away from each other. Four lanes of road, a divider, metal gates and a line of riot-prepared police prevented the two sides from meeting. The security didn’t stop there though – the laundry list of items that were not allowed into the ‘free speech zones’ was long and included water bottles, backpacks.

Neo-Nazi Coalition Rallies In Tennessee Amid Pushback

October 30, 2017 Patrick Strickland, www.aljazeera.com Resist! Nationalism, Racism, Tennessee, White Nationalism

By Patrick Strickland for Aljazeera - Predicting a "strong turnout" in advance of Saturday's rallies, Schoep told Al Jazeera that the events marked the far right's "first major street action" since a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, just over two months ago. On August 12, hundreds of neo-Nazis and white supremacists travelled from across the country to Charlottesville to protest the city's decision to tear down a Confederate monument. Participants clashed with community members, anti-racist activists and anti-fascists throughout the city. By the end of the day, James Alex Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio resident, had allegedly rammed his car into an anti-racist march and killed 32-year-old activist Heather Heyer. The incident also left at least 19 people injured. "The media is claiming we started or brought violence to Charlottesville and anyone, with even half of a brain who was actually there knows the truth the Antifa violently attacked anyone who was deemed pro-white or pro-American even," Schoep, who refers to himself as the NSM's commander, said by email. He went on to allege that anti-fascists "viciously attacked us with mace, bricks, bottles, bats, chemicals, and countless urine-filled balloons and bottles" in Charlottesville.

Tennessee Cops Sued For Three Hour Torture Of Suspect

August 2, 2017 Amy K Nixon, www.tennessean.com Educate! Cops, Lawsuit, police brutality, Tennessee

By Amy K Nixon for The Tennessean - Three Cheatham County Sheriff's deputies have been placed on administrative leave after a Pegram teen filed suit in federal court accusing them of using excessive force while he was being held at Cheatham County Jail. Jordan Elias Norris, 19, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court accusing the deputies of deprivation of civil rights, citing the use of excessive force and failure to protect after he was repeatedly stunned with Tasers in the jail in November 2016. He suffered more than 40 pairs of Taser burns, many of which are unaccounted for by authorities, the lawsuit states. Norris was arrested Nov. 3, 2016 and charged with felony manufacturing/possession of marijuana for resale, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft under $500 and five counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He was later charged with felony vandalism of over $1,000 and simple assault Nov. 7 while still incarcerated. Norris was originally suspected of stealing a semi-automatic rifle, and Sheriff's deputies received information he was going to use the weapon on any law enforcement who tried to arrest him, according to Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove.

Nashville Police Training Includes Lessons In Civil Rights History

November 25, 2015 Lucas L. Johnson II, www.csmonitor.com Resist! Police, Tennessee

By Lucas L. Johnson II for The Christian Science Monitor - NASHVILLE, TENN. — On the same downtown block where Nashville police officers carried a young John Lewis by his hands and feet to a paddy wagon for daring to take a seat at a whites-only lunch counter decades ago, today's fresh-faced police recruits are learning lessons about the fraught history between law enforcement and black Americans. About 60 police hopefuls, many around the same age Lewis was when he emerged as a leader of the civil rights movement, gathered recently in the "Civil Rights Room" at Nashville's main library.

Inmate Claims He Escaped Jail To Get Surgery

July 6, 2015 CNN Wire, www.kdvr.com Educate! health, Mass Incarceration, Tennessee, Torture

By CNN Wire in KDVR - A Tennessee prisoner claims he was so desperate and in so much pain that his only choice was to escape from jail, acording to WSMV-TV. Don Robin White Jr. said he escaped from jail to get surgery. White has previous drug and theft charges and was put in jail last month for violating probation. “I should never have done it, but I got two kids, and I wasn’t gonna lie back there and die,” he said. White said he was suffering from a hernia before he was even booked into the Trousdale County jail. “When I walked in, I had my papers showing I had to have surgery, and nobody ever helped me,” he said. As days went on, White said it kept getting worse, and he kept asking for help. He claims he submitted three or four medical requests and that the guards also submitted a couple.

Obama May Privatize New Deal Gem, Tennessee Valley Authority

June 9, 2015 Joel Yudken, www.epi.org Educate! Electricity, Energy, Finance and the Economy, Obama, Tennessee

By Joel Yudken in The Economic Policy Institute - The Obama administration is considering whether to divest all or part of the federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a means to pay down the U.S. debt. The selling off of all or part of the TVA to private ownership would have far-reaching consequences, especially for the 9 million people in the 80,000-square-mile region—encompassing parts of Tennessee, northern Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia—to whom the TVA provides electricity and other services. The proposal has sparked a debate about the benefits and problems that divestiture might bring. Conservatives have long opposed the TVA on the grounds that it is an illegitimate government intrusion into the marketplace.

Tennessee Officials Appeal Occupy Nashville Ruling

August 25, 2014 Travis Loller, www.greenwichtime.com Organize! Law, Occupy, Tennessee

Two high-ranking Tennessee officials are asking a federal appeals court to rule that they did not violate the rights of Occupy Nashville protesters who were arrested on the War Memorial Plaza in October 2011. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger last year found Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons and former General Services Commissioner Steven Cates violated protesters' rights when they promulgated a last-minute curfew for the plaza, then had those who refused to leave arrested. In briefs filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, state attorneys argue that Gibbons and Cates should be granted qualified immunity for their actions to disperse the protesters. They say it was the job of the two officials to protect state property and maintain order. The curfew and arrests were necessary to deal with reports of crime, sanitation problems, trash and damage to the plaza in front of the state Capitol, they say. "Plaintiffs' 24-hour occupation of the War Memorial Plaza was not protected by the First Amendment," they argue. And even protected speech can be subject to reasonable time and place restrictions.

Coal Giant Ordered To Cease Mining Operations In Tennessee

July 26, 2014 Sierra Club, www.content.sierraclub.org Resist! Coal, Environment, Law, Tennessee

The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has issued 39 cessation orders against three Jim Justice owned companies in Tennessee. The subsidiaries in question - National Coal, Premium Coal and S&H Mining - have also been issued "Notice of Violations” from OSMRE under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) for failing to report water monitoring data and for road maintenance violations and a failure to meet mine reclamation requirements. The total financial cost of the violations is not known at this time. OSMRE recently held public hearings on cessation orders against Premium Coal mining operations in Anderson County, Tenn. The hearings were held to address the company's failure to meet reclamation requirements when they did not plant trees and other vegetation on disturbed areas at two mine sites within the timeframe required by their mining permits. Since the hearings, a letter of decision for both permits has been issued by OSMRE denying Premium Coal's request to drop the cessation orders. "You’d think a coal billionaire could hire firms that can plant a tree the right way around. Sadly, Premium Coal's reasoning for not meeting permit requirements was simply that they ran out of time and hired a bad crew that planted trees upside down with the roots sticking up," said Sierra Club Organizer Bonnie Swinford. “Justice and his firms have a legal responsibility to ensure adequate reclamation of strip-mined land in our state—and upside-down trees don’t cut it. Justice owned companies should hire local tree-planting companies and use the best possible reclamation practices.”

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