On Nov. 18, Nashville News Channel 5 reporter Phil Williams delivered a breathless “exclusive investigation” into the supposed right-wing radicals targeting rural Jackson County, Tennessee, for a takeover. He claimed, “their views are not so different from the ideas espoused by the neo-Nazis and other white supremacists seen marching down Nashville streets in the past year.”
His camera crew, his drone, and even a news helicopter descended on the tiny town of Gainesboro so Phil could “speak truth to power,” as he describes his mission in his X bio. As a native Tennessean, former Nashville police officer, long-time resident of the area, and friend to several of these so-called radicals, I thought I’d offer my perspective.