Weeks after a series of disruptive neo-Nazi demonstrations in downtown Nashville, members of the Metro Nashville Council debated a slate of proposals aimed at curbing such activity in the future, while seeking to balance free speech rights.
Six notable items directly tied to the rash of extremist activity went before the Tuesday evening council meeting.
Public comment for Tennesseans only
The first was a successfully passed change to the public comment policy, which will now restrict eligible speakers to residents of Tennessee.
The previous policy did not have any residency restrictions. A earlier version of the rule change had proposed only allowing Davidson County residents to speak, but Council Member at Large Zulfat Suara, the sponsor of the rule amendment, said the change to broaden it to the entire state was made for a number of accessibility reasons.
“When the rule was first proposed, it was to address a specific incident… and there was concern from the community about what we would do about that,” Suara said, referring to the July 16 meeting that saw a number of disruptive neo-Nazis removed from the council gallery . “I talked to several organizations that work with our unhoused and undocumented people, and different communities, to see what we need to do differently. We don’t want a rule to keep outsiders out that keeps our constituents out, too.”