‘A hate crime is always one moment away:’ Nashville community reacts to neo-Nazi march

Dozens of people marched through downtown Nashville over the weekend while carrying swastika flags and chanting antisemitic and racist slurs.

The demonstrators have been associated with a neo-Nazi, men-only group called Blood Tribe. The group formed online and openly, verbally attacks non-white and LGBTQ-plus communities. 

On Monday, some Tennessee officials, religious leaders and community members gathered to condemn the march. Chandler Quaile, a Jewish student at Vanderbilt University, saw the marchers downtown after leaving an event for Black History Month.

“I began to cry because these are the types of people and ideologies that wiped out my ancestors,” Quaile said. “It was the type of ideology that made them hide, being Jewish, and hide, being Mexican, because it was too scary to confront the reality that, in America, a hate crime is always one moment away.” 

In 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented 1,200 hate and extremist groups in the U.S. The center warned that the extremist ideas behind these groups operate openly in the political mainstream.  

Through the weekend, Nashville experienced gross displays of antisemitism and racism.

I’m grateful to @MNPDNashville for working with faith / community leaders as well as #MetroCouncilNash to ensure people are safe.

We will not let hateful distractions become dangerous actions.

— Freddie O’Connell (@freddieoconnell) February 19, 2024

Quaile said there’s “hateful rhetoric” every day at the Tennessee State Capitol. Last week, the state legislature advanced a bill that bans LGBTQ-plus flags at public schools but does not explicitly prohibit Nazi or Confederate flags. 

The student told the crowd at Monday’s event that resistance to hate is powerful. Attendees chanted and carried signs like “Grandmas against Fascists” and “No Nazis in Nashville.”