Members of the white supremacist Tennessee Active Club provided security for Gabrielle Hanson, a Moms for Liberty-backed alderman in Franklin, Tennessee, and current candidate for mayor, at a recent candidate forum, according to local reporter Phil Williams of News Channel 5.
The Tennessee Active Club is one of the “prominent cells” in a rapidly growing network of groups that promote violent white supremacist ideology and provide training in combat sports, according to a recent report by The Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson. Like other far-right groups, Active Clubs “recruit with narratives of white victimhood” and see themselves as militias in training for future violent conflict.
Earlier this year, SPLC reported that the Tennessee Active Club has been training above the Lewis Country Store in Nashville, whose owner Brad Lewis responded to the report by declaring on Telegram, “I’m not a cuckservative, I’m an actual literal Nazi.” This week, Lewis told reporter Williams that he is a friend of Hanson’s and that the Active Club members were on hand at the forum because Hanson had received credible threats.
Alderman Hanson was cheered on by the Williamson County Moms for Liberty chapter this year when she led an unsuccessful effort to prevent the city’s annual Pride celebration from being held. Robin Steenland, head of Williamson County Moms for Liberty chapter, portrayed the campaign to stop Pride as a battle between good and evil, a struggle against a “social change agenda” that seeks the “destruction” of family, Christianity, and America itself. The county M4L chapter has also complained about curricular materials that teach students about the civil rights movement and seahorses.
M4L chapter president Steenland is also founder and chair of Williamson Families PAC, which claims to support candidates “that reflect our family values and demonstrate integrity, wisdom, and service to the community.” Whatever the PAC means by family values or integrity did not prevent it from endorsing Hanson, who has, to be generous, a checkered relationship with telling the truth.
A few weeks ago, Hanson was exposed for using women’s social media posts to falsely portray them as supporters of her campaign—and then repeatedly lying about it. News Channel 5 also caught her lying about her previous use of an alias. Hanson supporters tried to prevent from reporter Phil Williams from attending a Sept. 25 forum.
Back in April, Hanson claimed to have “full knowledge” from an inside source that a shooting at a Nashville Christian school involved a scandalous “love triangle,” and she stood by her claims even when she was called out for lying about the shooting. Her statements led to an ethics investigation, but the city’s ethics commission concluded that her comments were protected by the First Amendment and did not violate city ordinances.
The mayoral election will be held on Oct. 24; early voting begins Wednesday, Oct. 4.
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