From left, Rev Troy Merritt, Gloria McKissack, Frederick Leonard, Brenda Carson and Joy Reagon Leonard hold candles at the Lighting Our World Memorial Vigil for Rev. James Lawson and John Lewis. (Photo: John Partipilo)
Members of the neo-Nazi group that demonstrated in downtown Nashville on Sunday made it a twofer, raising a ruckus in Tuesday night’s Metro Nashville Council meeting before being ejected by police.
About 12 members of the anti-semitic hate group, Goyim Defense League, signed up to participate in the customary public comment session. But after loudly heckling council members — including Metro Council President Pro-tem Zulfat Suara — and exchanging insults with counter-protesters, Metro Nashville Police officers cleared the public gallery. After both groups cleared the chambers, police eventually let members of the public back for the remainder of the council meeting.
On Wednesday, in a diametrically different type of gathering, the Rep. John Lewis Way Committee hosted a memorial event on Diane Nash Plaza outside the courthouse to commemorate the lives of the late civil rights leaders, Rev. James Lawson and U.S. Rep. John Lewis. The committee, which is chaired by Suara, formed in 2020 to seek to rename of a portion of Nashville’s 5th Ave., N. to Rep. John Lewis Way.
Lawson died on June 9; Lewis on July 17, 2020. The pair, along with Nash, began their activism in the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement in Nashville through a movement to desegregate lunch counters at department stores.
All photos are by John Partipilo.
Neo-Nazis in Metro Nashville Council
“Lighting Our World” memorial for Rev. James Lawson and U.S. Rep. John Lewis
Former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore and Metro Nashville Councilmember-at-Large Zulfat Suara at the “Lighting Our World Memorial” for the Rev. James Lawson and the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis on Diane Nash Plaza at the Metro Nashville Courthouse. (Photo: John Lewis)
Photograph by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout ©2024
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