Violent Vectors
📰 Headlining crimes · Special Session · ICE Arrests · Much more!
Good afternoon, everyone.
Be sure to RSVP for our event on Thursday with Seneca Scott. If you're curious about Seneca and what he's about, you can listen to this debate hosted by The Free Press on whether or not criminal justice reform has made our cities unsafe or read their article on him from last year.
Onward.
The day after last week’s Antioch shooting, three Nashville students were arrested for making similar threats. No doubt influenced by the media spectacle that followed last Wednesday’s tragedy, the arrests serve as a potent reminder that school shootings are first and foremost a social contagion. No amount of gun regulation, school hardening, or technology can guard against this.
I’ve written about this continually since the Covenant tragedy in March 2023. Free speech absolutists stumped for the release of the manifesto in the aftermath of the attack, but I took the unorthodox position of arguing that we should burn it—and do the same for all manifestos going forward as they become vectors for future crimes.
Most recently, I proclaimed that the weight we place on the release of these writings seems to indicate that they belong in the Library of Congress as extant documents “probing the bounds of acceptable speech.” Because, let’s be honest, school shooter manifestoes are just another form of entertainment at this point.
I talk about this a lot. In the aftermath of Antioch, we’ve seen overwhelming confirmation of the social contagion thesis. In addition to the three arrests mentioned above, the Wisconsin Watch published a story about how the Antioch shooter had potentially interacted with the Wisconsin shooter online, as both were active in the same internet subculture that celebrates school shootings.
There is no doubt that forums and other communications for those who talk about this kind of stuff are heavily monitored. This morning, the Footman Phil Williams penned a story for NewsChannel 5 about another would-be shooter who the FBI apprehended after Meta tipped them off because he sent messages that indicated he planned to conduct a mass shooting. Additionally, as Williams reported, the Antioch assailant noted this arrest, which wasn’t widely publicized in his diary. Meta forwarding evidence to the FBI is some straight-up surveillance state stuff, which I doubt many are going to waste their breath arguing against.
Curtailing media coverage is another matter. In the current climate, there’s no doubt that any efforts by government officials to curtail the media's ability to report on school shootings would be met with allegations of censorship. Crudely, they’d be correct. But for a domestic terrorist cell whose main means of communication with the broader world is through the news media, the policy should be different.
I watched the movie Signs a week or so back. One thing that struck me about the story is how as aliens descend from the heavens, the isolated farmer and his family rely entirely on their television to get a sense of what’s going on. After they discover a crop circle in their own field, the family assumes it's some small-time neighborhood prankster. Then, they see news footage of crop circles from across the globe on TV, which indicates that it may be part of some grander prank.
That night, Mel Gibson’s character hears something in the fields and runs after the noise, coming out into a flattened clearing where a new crop circle sits. “You're wasting your time here! I'm not going to report this or anything you do to my crops. To the news or TV, or anybody,” he yells into the night. “You're not going to get famous!” After all, why else would someone orchestrate a global, decentralized crop circle operation other than to get famous?
As it turns out, his message falls on deaf alien ears; but for us here in reality, it needn’t. The men and women, boys and girls fantasizing about turning a gun on a bunch of school children should know that their acts, their words, and their faces will not see the light of day. DAVIS HUNT
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🏛️ Special Session Snapshot The governor’s Special Session began today, and the legislature will be deliberating over five bills sponsored by Senate Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) and House Leader William Lambert (R-Portland):
- Education: the governor’s Education Freedom Act of 2025, accompanied by a bill that secures the funding mechanism to implement school vouchers.
- Immigration Enforcement: a package that includes the creation of the Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division, a chief immigration enforcement officer, anti-sanctuary city policies, and new ID requirements.
- Disaster Relief: one bill that creates two funds to assist with certain emergency response and recovery efforts, and another that authorizes TEMA to assist local entities with the recovery of public property affected by disasters and emergencies.
There are also two additional House bills filed without Senate sponsors: a bill to create the Tennessee Transportation Financing Authority and another disaster relief bill.
Though the conversation around illegal immigration and deportation is sure to capture headlines, the real wrestling match will likely be over school vouchers. Despite a few key changes made to this year’s school choice bill—including an option (instead of a mandate) to expand the voucher program over time—legislators on both sides of the political aisle have pushed back against the proposal.
State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) condemned the proposal in an op-ed published by the Tennessean over the weekend:
"Let’s call it what it is: ‘School choice’ is school segregation by another name, born from Republican political consultant Lee Atwater’s Southern Strategy — using coded language to disguise racist policies. No matter how Republicans rebrand it, vouchers are still fundamentally immoral and unjust — like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig."
“For those keeping score: Over the last 24 hours I have received more than 300 emails supporting the voucher bill. All are from emails sent through a special interest website that is being paid to push the bill. ZERO have come from my district. [0 for 300 and] & counting,” posted State Representative Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) on Saturday.
🚨 ICE Arrests On Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that they arrested 956 new dangerous illegals during raids across the county. Among them were members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has become a growing concern in Nashville.
In November, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation requested funding to combat the gang. The violence has been brazen, and TBI Director David Rausch expects it to escalate across the state. “Recently, there was a video that they shot where they shot an individual—a cartel member—31 times, broad daylight, on video, and posted it to social media,” he said. According to Fox17’s Kylie Walker, the gang is connected to human trafficking, retail theft, and drug trafficking.
🏚️ Arresting Development Discussions A bill that would allow Metro Government to forgo holding a public comment period for development legislation popped up in this year’s General Assembly, but it may get withdrawn. As introduced, it would require “a local legislative body to approve an application for a proposed development without allowing public comment, if the legislative body determines that the proposed development is in substantial compliance with the zoning regulations or map that was previously made available for public review and comment.” According to our sources, the state sponsors are rethinking the legislation.
DEVELOPMENT
- Berry Hill recording studio building listed for $2.5M (Post)
- North Nashville mixed-use building listed for sale (Post)
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Cloverdale Records 1 Year Anniversary Party Day 2 @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $15, Info
🎸 Stacey Kelleher @ The Basement, 7p, $12.85, Info
🎸 Timbo & Lonesome Country @ Jane's Hideaway, 8p, Info
+ modern take on classic country, bluegrass & hillbilly Jazz
🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
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