The Gravy Train Runs On ICE
💸 Who funds TIRRC · Enforcing the law · Freddie vs. the Fed · Detectors Detecting · Repeat offender all-star · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
The ICE operation is chewing up space in media coverage, and it’s hard to ignore. But don’t forget that the mayor is all set to propose a property tax increase in the coming weeks.
Onward.
The city’s promotion of the Belonging Fund is reminiscent of Chris Cobb’s effort to buy the EXIT/IN during the fog of COVID. Like Cobb, the city of Nashville is raising money for opaque ends and shovelling it towards non-profit organizations like the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition to do with it whatever they do. There is no real plan to, say, prevent the federal government from carrying out deportations.
Cobb’s similarly doomed effort to purchase the EXIT/IN—something he knew was impossible even before he started a GoFundMe to buy back the venue—worked the same way. Amid the city’s existential identity crisis following the tornado, Covid, and the Christmas Day bombing, AJ Capital purchased the EXIT/IN property. Leaning into vague anti-corporate sentiment, Cobb raised money under the auspices of “Saving Nashville’s Soul” to keep the storied venue independent.
Two weeks ago, we refreshed this story after the premiere of a documentary chronicling Cobb’s efforts, which doesn’t probe the basic question of what he did with the money he raised. The Belonging Fund commits the same sin, except that it’s explicitly endorsed by Metro government.
What’s more, the organizations that Metro government is openly and proudly trumpeting as collaborators on these efforts have shady funding sources. I mentioned Stand Up Nashville during the same newsletter we published the Cobb documentary story, showing that at least 32 percent of their capital comes from groups like the Tides Foundation for “advanc[ing] social justice and equity.”
Stand Up is “community partner” on the mayor’s highly touted Unified Housing Strategy and is famous in town for using Community Benefits Agreements to shake down businesses. Just today, Executive Director Odessa Kelly is quoted in a NewsChannel 5 story complaining that “Nashville is getting whiter and whiter in the urban core.”
Unsurprisingly, TIRRC, which has taken center stage in the city’s pushback against deportations, also receives money from the Tides Foundation, accepting a $140,000 grant for “equity, human rights, and economic empowerment.” TIRRC is about four times the size of Stand Up, and their funding sources are far more opaque.
TIRRC raised $4.65M in 2023 and received at least $613,450 from large, out-of-state NGOs like the Tides Foundation–roughly twice the amount that Stand Up received. But TIRRC is also lavishly funded by government grants, local and federal. Like many organizations, they took advantage of PPP funds during the pandemic with two loans amounting to $527,196, one of which was fully forgiven.
Additionally, in 2022, the Metro Council granted TIRRC $1.8M in American Rescue Plan funds to “expand critical immigrant legal services in Davidson County” to deal with the Biden administration’s lax border security. In total, between 2020 and 2023, TIRRC reports that it received nearly $3M in government grants.
TIRRC’s fingerprints are all over the city and media’s response to the operation, as seen in articles in the Nashville Banner, on public radio with WPLN, and out of the mouth of our own mayor. Much as Trump made the enemy show its true colors simply by speaking his mind, the current political moment in Nashville is revealing to us who has undo sway and the ear of council members and mayor alike. DAVIS HUNT
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🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.
🚨 So, You’re Saying They’re Enforcing The Law… During yesterday’s Council Operating Budget Hearing for the Sheriff's Office, Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall explained the department’s role and how immigration and customs enforcement detainers are handled. “We do not arrest, nor do we have arrest powers,” explained Hall, clarifying that the sheriff’s office was not involved in Middle Tennessee’s recent ICE operations.
Instead, the only place where the sheriff’s office overlaps with immigration enforcement is when it comes to booking, fingerprinting, and handing over those in custody with ICE detainers. “When you fingerprint someone for any crime, those prints are automatically shared with ICE,” Hall said after explaining that they’re simply enforcing the Secure Communities program which was established by the Obama administration. “We're not doing any more or less.”
The process is the same as its always been: When a crime is committed and a suspect is apprehended, they are booked and fingerprinted; the prints are checked against two databases (one that flags any outstanding warrants, the other that checks for immigration violations); and if ICE puts a detainer on a person in custody, the Sheriff’s Office is legally bound to hold that person in custody for ICE to collect for at least 48 hours after their local charges are complete.
You can watch the full meeting here.
🤺 Freddie vs. The Fed Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security released more information about last weekend’s operations conducted alongside 287g partners in Nashville. “Of the 196 individuals arrested, 95 had prior criminal convictions and pending criminal charges and 31 were previously removed individuals who reentered the U.S. illegally, a felony offense under federal law,” reads the press release. But, aside from profiling some of the dangerous criminals, including “MS-13 affiliates, murderers, sex offenders, and illegals with assault convictions,” the announcement took direct aim at Music City’s mayor, Freddie O’Connell.
“Despite ICE and THP’s success in protecting Americans from these criminal illegal aliens, Mayor O’Connell stands by pro-illegal policies claiming that these operations were done by ‘people who do not share our values of safety,’” the DHS released. “Mayor O’Connell launched the Belonging Fund to provide taxpayer dollars for aliens in Nashville.”
“You would think all public officials would unite around DHS bringing violent criminal illegal aliens to justice and removing them from American communities,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “However, pro-open borders politicians—like Mayor O’Connell—would rather protect illegal aliens than American citizens. This operation resulted in getting gang members, sex offenders, and other violent criminals off Nashville’s streets. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims and the brave ICE agents who are on the frontlines making America safe again.”
🤳 Detectors Detecting In May, Metro Nashville Public Schools reported two incidents where guns were detected by the newly installed Evolv weapons detection systems. Yesterday, a student at Maplewood High School was charged after attempting to bring a loaded gun into school. The detection system identified the weapon in a backpack, much like a similar incident last Thursday at Antioch High School.
You may recall that the Metro Nashville Public Schools board voted to install the AI weapon detection systems in every high school following the deadly shooting at Antioch High School in January. The board is also considering placing them in middle and elementary schools.
DEVELOPMENT
- Marathon Village-area commercial building offered for sale (Post)
- Jefferson Street commercial building sells for $2.5M (Post)
- Veteran real estate investor buys on north side (Post)
✹ REPEAT OFFENDER ALL-STAR OF THE DAY
Today’s repeat offender all-star is among the most accomplished we’ve honored thus far. Adrian Abernathy’s exploits landed him a spot on MNPD’s list of most wanted criminals after he wrecked a stolen Lincoln into a tractor-trailer, killing the passenger three years ago. Abernathy, as is the case with all of our all-stars, has a lengthy criminal record full of suspended sentences and pleas on lesser charges. We’ll see how this one sticks. (More Info)
✹ NORM MCDONALD IS FUNNY
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Paul Simon @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, $144+, Info
🪕 Tim O'Brien @ The Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
🎸 Swamp Dogg @ The Blue Room, 7p, $32.51, Info
🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Camelia Brennan (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).