Tennessee 'White Lives Matter' Rally: Murfreesboro Announces Road Closures

MURFREESBORO, TN — A number of roads near the Murfreesboro square will be closed for Saturday's planned "White Lives Matter" rally, the city's police department and the Rutherford County Sheriff announced Wednesday.

Back-to-back "White Lives Matter" rallies are planned in Murfreesboro and Shelbyville Saturday, organized by National Front, the loose confederation of white supremacist groups that helped organize the United The Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., where tiki-torch-bearing white nationalists sought, ostensibly, to protect a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on August 11 and then held a march that turned deadly the next day when counter-protester Heather Heyer died after being run over by a car that plowed into a crowd, allegedly driven by James Fields, 20, who is charged with second-degree murder.

Brad Griffin, a member of the neo-Confederate group League of the South who blogs about white nationalist topics under the alias Hunter Wallace, told The Tennessean that white nationalist groups believe that police departments in Tennessee will keep better separation between the white supremacists and those who oppose them. White nationalist groups blame the violence at their rallies on far-left protesters and police who fail to keep them at a safe distance from the far-right marchers.

"The First Amendment provides a right to free speech and a right to peaceably assemble, and, thus, neither the City nor the County can legally prohibit the event," officials said in a news release. "The City and County, however, have carefully planned various measures to preserve and promote public safety, before, during, and after the event."

In addition to the road closures, everyone who attends the rally will be searched and weapons and masks are prohibited. State law prohibits the wearing of a mask if the intention is to intimidate others from exercising their civil rights. The only mention of the word "mask" in the Murfreesboro City Code is related to its ordinance prohibiting the exhibition of "harmful materials" to minors and is wholly unrelated to the issue at hand.

“The City, County, and its partners are committed to both the Constitution and public safety,” Sheriff Mike Fitzhugh and Murfreesboro Police Interim Chief Michael Bowen said. “Be assured, officers will take every step necessary to protect both. The slightest indication of disruption or violence will initiate immediate law enforcement action to uphold the rights of citizens and ensure their safety.”

The square will be closed to drivers and pedestrians at 3 a.m. Saturday. Counter-protesters can access Public Square via South Church Street and South Maple Street only.

Drivers must remove their cars from the Public Square and from all streets within a one-block radius of Public Square by 3 a.m. Saturday, or face a tow. The street closures within this one-block radius include:

• College Street between North Walnut and North Spring Street.
• East and West Main Street between Walnut Street and Spring Street.
• Vine Street between South Walnut Street and South Spring Street.
• Walnut Street between West College Street and West Vine Street.
• Maple Street between West College Street and West Vine Street.
• Church Street between East College Street and East Vine Street.
• Spring Street between East College Street and East Vine Street.
• West Tommy Martin Drive between Vine Street and N.W. Broad Street.

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