Lastly(?), Nashville-based reporter Phil Williams, who became famous across the US during that wild mayoral race in Franklin, TN, last year, has published a report revisiting that campaign and, in particular, the threats that were made against Williams himself as well as other journalists. Worth a read for the first-person perspective of someone who was targeted by these creeps.

#PatriotFront #AppalachianArchives #GabrielleHanson #NeoNazis #fcknzs #fascism

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/franklin-politics/a-white-supremacist-warned-me-to-comply-with-his-demands-or-else-now-hes-in-federal-custody

A white supremacist warned me to comply with his demands or else. Now, he's in federal custody

He warned me there would be consequences if I failed to comply with his demands to air a white supremacist video. Now, that man faces his own consequences.

News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF)

This is a pretty big catch in the US white nationalist scene.

Kai Liam Nix (22) is both a member of Patriot Front and the former admin of the Appalachian Archives (AA) channel on Telegram (later rebranded as "American Archives" before it shut down last spring).

AA was really active last year doxxing journalists, researchers, and anyone who was on the outs with the neo-nazi scene. It particularly blew up on Telegram through its collaboration with the Tennessee Active Club (TAC), a prominent, self-proclaimed "actual, literal Nazi," and a sleazy little recruiting crew calling itself Patriot Youth during last year's mayoral race in Franklin, Tennessee, just outside Nashville. (TAC was led at the time by Sean Kauffmann, who had to step down earlier this year after his most recent round of domestic violence charges).

You may recall that race due to candidate Gabrielle Hanson's open acceptance of support from local neo-nazi factions like these.

At any rate, that whole nazi circuit operating in Middle Tennessee was getting very aggressive for a while last year, though I haven't kept up more recently. And what's more disturbing is that Nix, the AA admin, is in the US Army, 82nd Airborne Division, stationed at Fort Liberty in North Carolina. According to this report, he has been charged with “illicit sales of firearms and lying on a background check," which is an indication of the actual danger a little shit like this poses.

Solid article here. Worth reading.

Edit: I had included [hashtag]Appalachia in this initially, but I took it out, because you know what? This dickhead isn't from Appalachia, the people he worked with in/around Nashville aren't in Appalachia, and really, none of this has anything to do with Appalachia except the name that this little cockwad saw fit to co-opt for his little stupid nazi club. So I'd like to apologize to the good, decent, and often misunderstood people of Appalachia for having taken the bait. Fascists really are nothing if not dishonest little opportunists, and, to paraphrase Mary McCarthy, everything they say is a lie, including "and" and "the". You literally can't take a word they say at face value.

#PatriotFront #ActiveClub #HateWatch #fascism #NeoNazis #fcknzs #Tennessee #82ndAirborne #GabrielleHanson #FranklinTennessee #NorthCarolina #PaulGancarz #USArmy #AppalachianArchives

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2024/08/19/we-will-fight-soldier-waging-war-against-america-fort-liberty

‘We Will Fight!’ The Soldier Waging War Against America from Fort Liberty

A member of the white nationalist hate group Patriot Front who appears to operate a social media account that disclosed personal information about perceived political enemies – including journalists, left-leaning activists, politicians and community members – is an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army, a Hatewatch investigation has revealed.

Southern Poverty Law Center
White supremacist group delivers show of force for Franklin mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson

The often-bizarre race for Franklin mayor took a disturbing new turn this week as white supremacists made a show of force for Gabrielle Hanson.

YouTube
The Tennessee Mayoral Candidate and Her White Supremacist Friends

As Franklin voters cast their ballots on Tuesday, the mayoral race marked by white supremacist ties and a contentious candidate, Gabrielle Hanson, reaches its decisive moment.

Advocate.com
Clueless MAGA Candidate Gabrielle Hanson Tells Voters to Break Election Day Law

It wasn’t Gabrielle Hanson’s only Election Day gaffe on Tuesday.

The Daily Beast
Voters soundly reject Gabrielle Hanson, other MAGA candidates in historic Franklin, Tennessee election

In perhaps the most bizarre race that Middle Tennessee has ever experienced, Franklin voters resoundingly rejected a mayor candidate who openly embraced white supremacists and Christian nationalism.

News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF)

Well, that mayoral race in Franklin, Tennessee, is over, and Gabrielle Hanson, who had clearly and openly nailed down the Nazi vote, has lost.

Soundly.

The final tally was:
Hanson: 3,322
Moore: 12,822

Math isn't my thing, but that looks like about a 4-to-1 margin. Which is nice.

Still, there are 3,000+ people there who didn't think that conspiracy theories about a local school shooter, really weirdly lying that a photo of randos from the internet was of friends of hers (big "See? I have Black friends" energy there), and cavorting with Nazis were a dealbreaker. Alright, well, noted.

I suspect that things won't just settle down in central TN now that the region's most prominent Nazi den mother has been denied public office, but I'd love to be wrong. We'll see.

#franklin #gabriellehanson #hanson #fcknzs #tennessee #activeclub

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/results-for-the-franklin-mayoral-and-at-large-aldermen-races

Results for the Franklin Mayoral and At-Large Aldermen races are finalized

Along with the mayoral election, there are four at-large aldermen seats open, including the seat Gabrielle Hanson currently holds.

News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF)
Anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist running for mayor invites neo-Nazis to event, refuses to apologize

MAGA mayoral candidate and Franklin, Tennessee, Alderman Gabrielle Hanson continues to make disastrous headlines. The latest: Hanson has lost an influential conservative group’s�endorsement after ...

Daily Kos

GOP Mayoral Candidate Says She Won’t ‘Discriminate’ Against White Supremacists

Franklin, TN has exploded into a political firestorm in the wake of an alliance between conservative mayoral candidate #GabrielleHanson and a white supremacist “#ActiveClub.”

Last week, Hanson arrived at a candidate forum with members of the #Tennessee Active Club acting as her escort…an emerging form of open-network groups that blend martial arts and combat training with #WhiteSupremacist ideology

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/gabrielle-hanson-defends-white-supremacist-active-club-tennessee-1234851308/

Gabrielle Hanson Defends White Supremacist Active Club in Tennessee

Active Clubs are quickly expanding their presence in the United States, and one such group is wreaking havoc in a Tennessee mayoral race

Rolling Stone