Travel Ban Protesters Question Nashville Mayor, Police Investigate Report of Truck Hitting Marchers

NASHVILLE, TN — As a Sunday protest against President Donald Trump's executive orders barring immigration from seven countries and suspending the United States' refugee program ended, an SUV reportedly ran into several marchers crossing West End.

Witnesses say a handful of protesters were on the hood of the SUV in what the protesters said was an effort to slow the car to allow marchers to cross the street.

“Three or four individuals got on the hood of the car to block visuals so the person could stop. We pounded on the glass to say stop,” Bobbi Negran told WKRN.

"We were hit. So we had the right of way, pedestrians had the right of way. We were simply guiding people across the street when they struck us. We asked him to stop, he kept going, he hit us and then he just kept driving," Jack Willey told the station.

Metro Police separated the protesters and drivers and interviewed all involved at a nearby gas station. No charges were immediately filed, but investigators are reviewing video of the incident.

Hundreds gathered outside the Nashville offices of the state's two Republican senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, to rally against the president's actions. Both offices were closed.

Speaking from the bed of a pick-up truck, Vice Mayor David Briley took a strong stance on the president's actions, pledging resistance from Nashvillians.

"Our president, Donald Trump, has declared war on our city," he said, according to The Tennessean. "Don’t kid yourselves. The next few weeks, the next few months, we are going to be at war with the Trump administration. His goal is to divide the country. To wear us out so that we give up. Nashville will not give up."

Mayor Megan Barry also spoke and as she did, a chant of "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" broke out. Nashville is not a sanctuary city, though it many ways it functions as one, with Barry herself saying Metro Police would not be used to enforce federal immigration policy. She prefers using the term "Welcoming City." While there's no standard practice for a city to declare itself a sanctuary city, it typically comes via legislative, rather than executive, action. Barry explained the state legislature passed a law in 2009 barring Tennessee cities from becoming sanctuary cities, and were a city to do so anyway, the state could strip funding. The marchers also asked the mayor about the policies of Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs the jail and complies with federal immigration regulations. The mayor explained that while she can persuade Hall, she cannot dictate policy to him as he's an elected official, answerable to the electorate.

Meanwhile, both Corker and Alexander issued statements which did not go so far as condemning the president's actions, though both senators did criticize its implementation.

"We all share a desire to protect the American people, but this executive order has been poorly implemented, especially with respect to green card holders. The administration should immediately make appropriate revisions, and it is my hope that following a thorough review and implementation of security enhancements that many of these programs will be improved and reinstated," Corker said.

Alexander said "the vetting proposal itself needed more vetting."

"More scrutiny of those traveling from war-torn countries to the United States is wise. But this broad and confusing order seems to ban legal, permanent residents with ‘green cards,’ and might turn away Iraqis, for example, who were translators and helped save lives of Americans troops and who could be killed if they stay in Iraq. And while not explicitly a religious test, it comes close to one which is inconsistent with our American character," he said.

Tennessee's Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives were supportive of the president's actions, with Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a frequent Trump surrogate during the campaign, said the action was "responsible" and a "security test, not a religious one."

The toughest stance among the state's Republicans came from State Sen. Steve Dickerson of Nashville, who called it "contrary to bedrock American values."

Image via Patch staff