(The Center Square) – Nashville will be under a curfew for the third consecutive night Monday after weekend protests turned into looting and rioting in downtown Nashville.
The city will enforce a curfew from 10 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday, which Nashville Mayor John Cooper said is meant to protect Nashvillians. On Saturday night, protesters rioted in the streets, setting several fires, looting businesses, vandalizing the state Capitol and breaking into and damaging the historic courthouse, which houses city hall offices.
Cooper said the violent protesters distracted from the message of the peaceful protests, which began as a protest against police brutality, racism and the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody after a white officer knelt on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis.
The mayor said protesters shattered a granite plaque at the courthouse commemorating a peaceful civil rights protest in the 1960s in which protesters marched to the courthouse steps to demand equal treatment under the law.
“Now the pieces of this very plaque were actually used to break out the windows of the courthouse,” Cooper said. “Now this monument … was shattered and its fragments were thrown through the office window’s of the mayor’s office, including Deputy Mayor Brenda Haywood.”
Haywood, he noted, is the first black woman to serve as deputy mayor in Nashville history.
“This vandalism and arson ignored the sacred history of nonviolent social change that has taken place on those very courthouse steps,” Cooper said.
Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson said the police have arrested one man and charged him with aggravated arson, vandalism and disorderly conduct for the damage done to the courthouse. He said police are looking to confirm the identities of other suspects.
“Our investigation into this has not stopped,” Anderson said. “There are many others. We’ve received a significant number of tips.”
Despite the violence from some protesters, Anderson said he estimated more than 90 percent of people were nonviolent. He said they should be allowed to peacefully protest without the criminal elements infiltrating their rights. He said the police department condemns what happened in Minneapolis.
Over the weekend, Gov. Bill Lee mobilized the national guard across the state and launched an investigation into the unlawful activities in Nashville. Protests also happened in Memphis, Murfreesboro and Chattanooga.
“The right to peaceful protest is foundational to our country, but the violence and vandalism that occurred in Nashville ... was unlawful and tears at the fabric of our community,” Lee said in a statement. “We have reason to believe that many of those involved in unlawful acts are not Tennesseans, and we will be working with law enforcement to investigate this further and bring those responsible to justice.”
