Tag: tennessee

Trump Deploys National Guard to Memphis, U.S. Military Lawyer Weighs in on Legality

President Trump announced he will deploy the National Guard to Memphis, calling the city “deeply troubled.” Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, a Democrat, urged the administration not to send troops and said he may pursue legal action. “We will do everything in our power to prevent this incursion into Tennessee and to protect the rights, safety, and dignity of every resident,” Harris declared.

Crime has been rampant in U.S. cities, especially under Democrat leadership in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Boston, and New York. Officials in these cities have been accused of manipulating statistics to suggest crime is at historic lows, downgrading offenses, releasing illegal immigrants without bail, and only counting convictions, even though many offenders never returned for trial.

Harris has made similar claims, insisting crime in Memphis is at a multiyear low, though the city remains among the most dangerous in the country. Across large and mid-sized cities, crime is rising, yet Democrat leaders refuse to address it. In response, Trump has deployed the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles, federalized the police in Washington D.C., and pledged to act in other cities.

John Deaton, a U.S. Marine veteran, trial attorney, and author, explained in an interview with The Gateway Pundit the legality of such actions. “In D.C., where President Trump authorized the National Guard, it’s been federalized. Federal law governs D.C., and the commander in chief has that authority pretty much carte blanche for 30 days. After that, Congress must authorize it, unless the president declares an emergency.”

Outside Washington, the rules are different. Deaton noted that when Trump sent Marines to California, they had a limited mission: protecting federal officers, ICE agents, and federal property. “That was completely appropriate because there was a threat,” he said.

He also pointed to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits active-duty troops from day-to-day law enforcement. Soldiers cannot arrest suspects, investigate crimes, or act as police officers. Their role is confined to crowd control and guarding facilities and personnel.

“There are exceptions,” Deaton added. “If there is an invasion of a certain type, President Trump, for example, cited MS-13 flooding into certain cities, that constitutes an invasion, and he can use those mechanisms.”

President Trump has declared emergencies and deployed military forces at the U.S. southern border and in several cities, including Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Memphis.

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Liberal Federal Judge Lets 22-Year-Old “Transgender” Accused of Threatening to Kill Sen. Marsha Blackburn Walk Free

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, a liberal federal appointee, has granted pretrial release to 22-year-old Penelope Convertino, who is accused of threatening to assassinate U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).

According to The Tennessee Star, Penelope R. Convertino, who was reportedly born a male, allegedly left death threats against Senator Marsha Blackburn in a voicemail on May 30.

“My name is mother**ker and I’m gonna kill Marsha Blackburn,” the voicemail said. “I’m gonna shoot her with a gun. I’m gonna blow up her head on national TV. She will literally have brains splattered behind her because she will not be a person. She will be a dead f**king body,” the voicemail stated.

(Disclaimer: The Gateway Pundit has not independently verified the claims regarding Convertino’s biological details reported by outside sources.)

According to the press release on August 30:

“Penelope R. Convertino, age 22, of Murfreesboro, has been charged by criminal complaint with making a threat to murder a federal official with the intent to impede, intimidate, and interfere with U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn while she was engaged in the performance of her official duties, announced Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire for the Middle District of Tennessee.

“Our public officials should be able to do their jobs without receiving vile death threats,” said Acting United States Attorney Robert E. McGuire. “Threatening public officials with deadly violence cannot and will not be tolerated. We will not hesitate to hold those who make these kinds of violent threats accountable for their crimes.”

According to court documents, on Friday, May 30, 2025, a voice message was left on the voicemail for Senator Blackburn’s Nashville satellite Senate office. One of Senator Blackburn’s staff listened to the voicemail the following Monday. In it, the caller said, “My name is mother**ker and I’m gonna kill Marsha Blackburn. I’m gonna shoot her with a gun. I’m gonna blow up her head on national TV. She will literally have brains splattered behind her because she will not be a person. She will be a dead f**king body.”

Convertino was arrested earlier today by FBI agents.

If convicted, Convertino faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.”

Instead of ensuring the safety of an elected official and her constituents, Judge Holmes ordered Convertino’s release, continuing a disturbing trend of leniency toward dangerous offenders with politically fashionable identities.

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Famed sheriff Buford Pusser who inspired Hollywood’s ‘Walking Tall’ actually murdered his wife, investigators now say

A late Tennessee sheriff who inspired a Hollywood movie about a law enforcement officer who took on organized crime killed his wife in 1967 and led people to believe she was murdered by his enemies, authorities in Tennessee said Friday.

The finding will likely shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie that immortalized him as a tough but fair sheriff with zero tolerance for crime, authorities said.

There is enough evidence that if then-McNairy County Sheriff Buford Pusser were alive today, prosecutors would present an indictment to the grand jury for the murder of Pauline Mullins Pusser, said Mark Davidson, the district attorney for Tennessee’s 25th judicial district.

Investigators also uncovered signs she suffered from domestic violence.

Prosecutors worked with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which began reexamining decades-old files on Pauline’s death in 2022 as part of its regular review of cold cases, agency director David Rausch said.

Agents found inconsistencies between Buford Pusser’s version of events and the physical evidence, received a tip about a potential murder weapon and exhumed Pauline’s body for an autopsy.

Authorities acknowledged the news may shock many who grew up as Buford Pusser’s fans and watched the 1973 “Walking Tall” movie he inspired or the 2004 remake.

Many officers joined law enforcement because of his story, Davidson said.

The sheriff died in a car crash seven years after his wife’s death.

“This case is not about tearing down a legend. It is about giving dignity and closure to Pauline and her family and ensuring that the truth is not buried with time,” Davidson said at a news conference streamed on Facebook.

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‘No rational reason’: Court strikes government restriction on customers who want to visit home-based businesses

The Court of Appeals of Tennessee, located in Nashville, has struck down a municipal ordinance that limited the number of customers who could visit a home-based business.

It is invalid because it discriminated based on the type business it was.

According to a report from the Institute for Justice, which fought on behalf of record producer Lij Shaw and hairstylist Pat Raynor, Nashville’s rule allowed the two only six client visits a day at their businesses.

And then the city came up with “invasive and burdensome requirements.”

However, other businesses based in homes, such as short-term rentals, home daycares, historic homes and more, were allowed to have 12 or more clients daily, “free from additional requirements.”

“This kind of arbitrary favoritism has no place under the Tennessee Constitution,” explained Paul Avelar, a lawyer for the IJ. “Lij and Pat have a constitutional right to use their homes to earn an honest living. But Nashville treats their home-based businesses worse than other, privileged, home-based businesses for no real reason.”

The lawsuit stems from the city’s 2017 attacks on the two businesses, in which it shut them down.

Then came COVD, and the city allowed them to have six client visits daily.

Now a unanimous ruling from Judges Frank Clement, Andy Bennett, and Jeffrey Usman agreed with the claims that the city had not offered good reasons for favoring some home business over others.

The ruling said, “Metro has offered no rational reason for the difference in treatment that is relevant to the purpose of the law.”

The case already has been to the state Supreme Court, which rejected a lower court’s dismissal and reinstated it for further opinions at the lower court level.

At first, the lower court claimed the limits were “constitutional because they were rationally related to the city’s interests in preserving the residential nature of neighborhoods.”

The appeals ruling noted that the city changed its code during the time period that the lawsuit was pending. But throughout the proceedings the city exempted short-term rentals, home-based daycares, historic buildings and such.

The case ended up addressing the city’s irrational decision to distinguish between different types of home-related businesses.

“Plaintiffs argued that there was no rational reason that was relevant to the purpose of the law for distinguishing between their businesses and the Exempt Businesses. In support, Plaintiffs produced evidence that their businesses had no more of an impact on the residential character of neighborhoods than the Exempt Businesses,” the ruling said.

The opinion noted the city didn’t even try to dispute that.

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“Belmont Bombshells” – The University’s Vast Extent Of Subversive Actions

Last week, The Tennessee Conservative reported on the breaking story of a Belmont University official caught on camera admitting to harboring illegal alien students and deliberately pushing DEI policies through crafty rebranding.

Now, while calling for a federal investigation into the school, Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles has released reports showing Belmont’s deception is deeper rooted than initially suspected.

In the undercover footage, Belmont’s Assistant Director of “Student Success and Flourishing” Jozef Lukey revealed the school knows they have “undocumented students” on campus and deliberately hides their information to better operate “in the shadows”. 

Lukey also admits that the absorption of the school’s DEI department into their Hope, Unity, and Belonging (HUB) Office in 2022 was simply a way to continue DEI practices without being “under the microscope.”

Congressman Andy Ogles was one of the first Tennessee officials to jump into action, announcing he had sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon demanding an investigation and a revocation of all federal funds if necessary. 

But the Congressman hasn’t stopped there, releasing several “Belmont Bombshells” containing leaked emails and documents showing how “aggressively Belmont University’s administration is pushing DEI indoctrination behind the scenes”.

“Belmont Bombshell” #1 features an email from April asking university faculty to vote for a nominee to serve on the “Faculty Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Committee” for the next college academic year which will start in the fall of this year.

“Belmont claims to be a Christian university. DEI is a radically un-Christian, anti-truth ideology. This has no place in Tennessee. Stay tuned,” Ogles said.

“Belmont Bombshell #2” shows an official curriculum proposal form requiring faculty to write a “Diversity Impact Statement” to justify how any course proposals or revisions will, “include perspectives from diverse and/or historically underrepresented populations.” This means that any new or revised classes must be tailored to include DEI ideology or risk being rejected by the Belmont Provost.

While the form was dated for use in 2023, Ogles wrote that, “Belmont is allegedly still forcing professors to comply with this form,” and it is unlikely the school has greatly altered the document as more is revealed about the school’s determination to continue pressing DEI initiatives.

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HERE WE GO: Work on Site Halted, Police Launch Investigation After Noose Found at Construction Site of Tennessee Titans’ New Football Stadium

Here we go.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department is investigating after a noose was reportedly found at the construction site of a new football stadium for the Tennessee Titans.

New construction on the Nissan Stadium began last February.

Work on the construction site was halted last week after the Tennessee Builders Alliance discovered the noose.

“This week, a racist and hateful symbol was discovered on our site. There is no place for hate or racism in our workplace,” the Tennessee Builders Alliance said in a statement. “We reported the incident to law enforcement, suspended work, and launched an investigation.”

Sheriff Clarke wasn’t buying the story.

NBC News reported:

Police are investigating after a noose was found at the construction site of the Tennessee Titans’ new football stadium this week, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department said.

The Tennessee Builders Alliance reported finding the noose at the site of what is to be the new Nissan Stadium, police said. The police spokesperson could not say when the report was filed, just that it happened “this week.”

The Tennessee Builders Alliance and the Titans did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said that he appreciated the NFL team bringing the incident to his attention immediately, and said his office has taken steps “both in local policy and state policy to try to prevent hate incidents like this.”

The Nissan Stadium is scheduled to open in 2027.

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Belmont University Rebrands DEI Program, Defies Trump Executive Orders

Belmont University is in the spotlight after videos surfaced showing top administrative officials discussing how they are defying President Trump’s Executive Orders ending official discrimination based on race and sex.

Townhall reports that it has obtained leaked video of officials at the Nashville, Tennessee-based university bragging that they’ve simply rebranded their Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity (DEI) program as the office of Hope, Unity and Belonging (HUB).

According to Jozef Lukey, Assistant Director of Student Success and Flourishing at Belmont, the secret to not getting caught skirting Trump’s executive orders is to keep everything as quiet as possible while working “to create as an inclusive space as possible.”

Lukey states in one of the videos that Belmont officials try to adapt to what’s happening around them but emphasized that this doesn’t mean that their efforts to promote DEI completely stop.

“No, we’re not going to be out in the news doing all these things, ‘this is how we stand and this is what we stand by.’ No, we’re not going to make any outward statements,” Lukey explained, tacitly admitting that Belmont is working from the shadows to violate the executive order.

However, the university’s name-changing ruse has caught the attention of Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN) represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district, which includes Belmont.

Ogles has penned a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, calling for a full investigation into the the school’s DEI sleight-of-hand as well as urging investigations into other schools that risk potential defunding over their defiance of the president’s orders reining in DEI.

In that letter, Ogles calls for an immediate compliance review, clarified guidance that mere name changes constitute non-compliance and could result in a loss of federal funding and asks the Department of Education to report to Congress on the prevalence of this type of rebranding.

Ogles tells McMahon that, “Belmont University, like all universities, must understand that if they persist in promoting racist DEI programs in violation of their students’ rights, they will be defunded.”

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Tennessee Enacts Law Making It a Felony to House Illegal Immigrants for Rent

Tennessee has enacted a groundbreaking law that makes harboring illegal immigrants a punishable crime.

Signed into effect by Governor Bill Lee in May 2025, Senate Bill 392, which took effect July 1, sends a clear message: Tennessee will not be a safe haven for those who flout federal immigration laws.

The new law targets landlords, business owners, and “sanctuary sympathizers” who knowingly harbor illegal aliens in exchange for rent or services — a Class E felony punishable by up to six years in prison and fines up to $3,000.

For cases involving children under 13, the penalty escalates to a Class A felony, with potential sentences of up to 60 years.

A coalition including the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, TIRRC, ICAP, and the American Immigration Council has sued in federal court to block the law, citing First Amendment and Supremacy Clause violations.

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FBI Settles Lawsuit Over Biden Era Cover-Up Of Trans Killer Manifesto

More than two years after facing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for playing politics with a trans killer’s manifesto, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has agreed to a settlement. 

The agreement is a victory for transparency and open government, but it’s personal for this reporter. 

‘Did Not Want the Public to Know’

I was a plaintiff in the federal lawsuit demanding that the FBI release the manifesto of Audrey Hale, the biological woman identifying as a man who in March 2023 burst into a Nashville Christian school and murdered three third-graders and three staff members before being fatally shot by responding police. 

At the time, I was National Political Editor for the Star News Network, which has done some of the best investigative work in bringing to light the dark mind of a mentally deranged mass murderer despite law enforcement efforts to keep the killer’s motives shrouded in secrecy. President Joe Biden’s FBI, which pulled the levers behind the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) handling of the politically charged case, denied my FOIA request for Hale’s manifesto. The file includes hundreds of pages of the 28-year-old woman’s journals and other writings. 

In May 2023, Star News CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy and I filed a lawsuit seeking the documents. Star News also sued the Nashville Police Department, joining the Tennessean newspaper and other groups in what became a combined complaint. 

We were represented by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), a nonprofit conservative law firm based in Milwaukee. On Wednesday, WILL announced the settlement, in which the FBI has agreed to turn over 120 pages of the shooter’s manifesto and to pay the law firm more than $86,000 in legal fees. 

The lawsuit would likely still be tied up in federal court had the FBI, under new management, not agreed to end the Biden FBI’s prolonged fight to keep the public in the dark. FBI Director Kash Patel ultimately ended an empty “investigation” into a trans school shooter who died at the scene and had no accomplices. 

“This was a case in which the Biden administration did not want the public to know what motivated this transgender shooter to shoot up the school and kill six people,” Dan Lennington, WILL’s deputy counsel, told me Wednesday on the Dan O’Donnell Show. 

The trans-centric Biden administration wanted to protect the trans agenda, and, as the Star News Network reported, the FBI advised against releasing information that it believed could put males pretending to be females and females identifying as males at risk. As The Federalist reported, four days after the shooting at the Christian elementary school, Biden issued a statement insisting that “Transgender Americans shape our Nation’s soul.” New York Post columnist Miranda Devine at the time noted that the far-left president railed against “MAGA extremists [who] are advancing hundreds of hateful and extreme state laws that target transgender kids and their families. … These attacks are un-American and must end.” He said nothing about a twisted trans Nashville area resident indoctrinated in hate. 

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Waste Of The Day: Unused COVID Quarantine Pods

Topline: Nashville spent $1.2 million to buy 108 quarantine housing pods in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the shelters were never used. Now the city plans to give 25 of them away to local nonprofits to be used as homeless shelters while covering the cost of renovating them.

Key facts: The combined municipality of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County bought the pods using federal funds from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Part of the $1.2 million price tag was for certified nursing assistants and 24-hour security at the pods — which was obviously unnecessary because the pods were never used, Nashville Scene reported.

Nashville started installing 25 of the quarantine pods in 2021 but could not use them until the Tennessee Fire Marshall’s Office gave its approval. The fire marshal told Nashville Scene they required a letter signed by an engineer declaring the pods were safe, but Nashville did not send the letter for almost a year.

The remaining 86 pods have been in storage in an unknown location. The Nashville Scene could not even confirm whether the pods are still in Tennessee.

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