Latest news with #FreddieOConnell
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NFL Stadium Construction Paused After Troubling Discovery
The Tennessee Titans are building a new stadium that is set to open in less than two years, but construction on the site has been halted for now after a troubling find. According to the Metropolitan Police Department on Friday, via ESPN's Turron Davenport, a noose was found at the construction site this week. Construction of the new venue has been stopped and an investigation is now underway. It doesn't appear there are any suspects at this time. "This week, a racist and hateful symbol was discovered on our site. There is no place for hate or racism in our workplace," the Tennessee Builders Alliance said. "We reported the incident to law enforcement, suspended work, and launched an investigation." The Tennessee Builders Alliance said there is currently a reward being offered for any information that helps find who is responsible. It has vowed to offer more anti-bias training for its workers, also. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell called the discovery "very concerning" and noted that the Titans are cooperating with local law enforcement in the investigation. The New Nissan Stadium, which has been under construction since 2024 and carries a price tag of about $2.1 billion, is expected to open in February 2027. Public funding is covering $1.26 billion of the aforementioned price tag for the 60,000-seat Stadium Construction Paused After Troubling Discovery first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 18, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Nashville bus stop farmer's market aims to boost safety, tackle food insecurity
A new farmers' market is coming to the Downtown Nashville plaza between the Elizabeth Duff Transit Center and Nashville Municipal Auditorium. It will serve fruits and vegetables every other Wednesday through October. Nashville leaders said the market's meant to be much more than just a simple diversion for passengers catching a bus ride to or from the downtown transit center, though. It's also intended to boost safety and increase access to healthy foods. Both goals were an emphasis on July 9, when local officials from Metro Nashville Council member Jacob Kupin to Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell gathered to celebrate the first WeGo Farmers' Market. 'The goal here is simple: bringing fresh, healthy, local food where people already are,' said Kupin, who represents the area as part of District 19. 'We know in our city, food access is so important.' Here's what else leaders said about the new market earlier this week. Several speakers at the July 9 market opening — from O'Connell to Sabrina Sussman, the chief program officer overseeing the Choose How You Move transportation improvement program — noted that events like this serve an important purpose: 'activating' the space. Broadly speaking, that means taking a public space that may otherwise have been underutilized and giving it purpose. But in this case, transit leaders have made it clear that it's also intended to help improve security at the downtown bus center. Several security enhancements were announced earlier this year, including a more than 60% increase in on-site security staffing. Also, Metro Nashville Police Department Captain Brian Williams was appointed transit liaison. 'I'll say already, we see signs of a focus on safety paying off,' O'Connell said. 'In the last two weeks, we have zero reports of any violent or property crime at any of WeGo's transit centers, and so far this year, we already have a 50% reduction in crime at all transit locations. And that's important, because transit centers do more than move people — they connect people to jobs, to health care, to schools and to opportunity.' The same day of the market opening, O'Connell's office shared a news release calling for community engagement to identify creative solutions to food deserts in Nashville. According to that release, more than 40,000 Davidson County residents live in 'food deserts' — communities where healthy grocery options are scarce or out of reach altogether. The problem's been exacerbated by an average year-over-year population growth of roughly 2% and an increased cost of living over the past decade, the release reads. 'We want to improve food access in neighborhoods across the city, building bridges to healthier outcomes, and that is what we're doing today,' O'Connell said at the market opening. 'The launch of WeGo Market is a step forward, one that meets people where they are (and) gives them access to fresh produce from local farms. We're responding to the challenge of food insecurity in part here, but we're doing more than that — we're also growing the local economy by helping people who grow our food.' O'Connell said dwindling federal support is making the issue even worse. He said that's affected agencies like Second Harvest Food Bank, which has lost access to millions of dollars in funding and programming that otherwise would have allowed it to purchase more locally-produced food. 'Whether we have federal support or not, we're going to keep pushing on programs that bring dignity and opportunities for more Nashville residents,' O'Connell said. Austin Hornbostel is the Metro reporter for The Tennessean. Have a question about local government you want an answer to? Reach him at ahornbostel@ Get Davidson County news delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: New Nashville bus stop farmer's market to boost safety, fresh food
New York Times
24-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Nashville's Mayor Would Rather Not Be Tangled in an Immigration Fight
Mayor Freddie O'Connell of Nashville would rather be talking about the state of the sidewalks. New traffic signals. Even the increase in the property tax rate. Instead, he has been busy addressing the fallout from a round of federal immigration raids last month in his liberal-leaning city. First, angry residents accused city officials of helping federal agents detain more than 100 people during the raids, which Mr. O'Connell, a first-term Democrat, quickly denied. After the outcry, he ordered city departments to let his office know about any outreach from immigration agents; he also expressed support for a community fund that seeks private donations for immigrant families. Tennessee Republicans then demanded investigations into whether the mayor had violated state law. The state has banned local governments from adopting 'sanctuary city' policies, which it describes as limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement and giving undocumented immigrants 'the right to lawful presence.' Mr. O'Connell drew more Republican wrath when his office published the names of some immigration agents who had contacted the city. He has maintained that the names were published accidentally because they were in public records, including summaries of emergency calls. The city has since removed the names and denies violating state law. Nonetheless, two congressional committees are investigating the effect of Nashville's policies on federal immigration enforcement. The backlash demonstrates how Mr. O'Connell, 48, is caught between the laws of his deeply Republican state and the progressive leanings of many of his constituents. It is perhaps the biggest test yet of his cautious pragmatism, at a moment when local leaders are on the front lines of the Trump administration's aggressive overhaul of federal policy. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fox News
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Top GOP senator gets inside look at ICE's dangerous mission as agents battle surge in assaults
Print Close By Cameron Arcand Published June 23, 2025 EXCLUSIVE: Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn rode along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Volunteer State on Friday as she touted new legislation to penalize those who dox federal law enforcement. During Blackburn's ride-along in Rutherford County, a suburban and rural area just outside of Nashville, ICE officers were "targeting" an illegal immigrant convicted of child sexual abuse, according to her office. "You really don't appreciate the amount of work that goes into apprehensions and deportations until you speak with the men and women who are working so hard behind the scenes every single day and see the risks they take firsthand. As ICE officers face a 500% increase in assaults against them, we owe these agents a debt of gratitude for all that they do to keep us safe," Blackburn said in a statement. NASHVILLE MAYOR STANDS BEHIND DOXING ICE AGENTS EVEN AFTER OFFICIALS SAID HIS ACTIONS PUT THEM IN DANGER "Lawless, left-wing politicians are fueling the surge in assaults against law enforcement officers who risk their lives to keep our communities safe. In stark contrast, President Trump and his administration are standing up for law-abiding citizens over criminal illegal aliens by empowering ICE agents to do their jobs," she added. Tennessee, particularly the city of Nashville, has become a flash point in the illegal immigration discussion. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell, a Democrat, has opposed the Trump administration's immigration policies. He recently faced backlash for the names of federal officers being released in a public report, which resulted in doxxing accusations. SCOOP: TOP CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES LAUNCH PROBE INTO NASHVILLE MAYOR ACCUSED OF BLOCKING ICE "I wouldn't say it was an endangerment process. I would say they may have some concerns — I'm far more concerned about the overall dynamic we have about unmarked, unidentifiable masked people whisking people into vehicles — I think that's a bigger concern," O'Connell said last week at a press conference. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE He is currently under investigation by GOP House lawmakers, including Nashville-area Rep. Andy Ogles, for potentially interfering with federal immigration efforts. "It's not a process that I would characterize as doxxing. It was an unintentional release of names that were already part of a public record," O'Connell added at the time. BLUE CITY MAYOR SAYS ICE ARRESTS OF DANGEROUS CRIMINALS ARE NOT 'FOCUSED ON MAKING US SAFER' "They were already part of a public record by being in the Department of Emergency Communication's calls, so I don't think it puts them at additional risk. But it's also not an intention of the executive order under which those names are released," he added. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Blackburn introduced the "Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act" earlier this month to make it illegal to release the name of a federal officer if there was an intention to "obstruct" criminal or immigration proceedings, which was a direct response to the O'Connell controversy and the recent 500% spike in assaults on ICE agents, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Besides the mayor, a recent hit-and-run case allegedly perpetrated by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Nashville made national waves, as the suspect is still at large. Print Close URL
Fox News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Nashville mayor stands behind doxing ICE agents even after officials said his actions put them in danger
The Democratic mayor of Tennessee's largest city, who has been accused of obstructing federal immigration efforts, defended his office's decision to publicly dox the names of immigration officers. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell's defense came even after the names of federal immigration officials were removed from a public immigration report detailing a month's worth of immigration-related interactions between local police and federal immigration authorities. Initially, the public report detailed immigration officers' names, but following backlash over the move the names were taken down. "I wouldn't say it was an endangerment process, I would say they may have some concerns – I'm far more concerned about the overall dynamic we have about unmarked, unidentifiable masked people whisking people into vehicles – i think that's a bigger concern," O'Connell, who is currently under investigation by GOP House lawmakers for potentially interfering with federal immigration efforts, said during a press conference with reporters. O'Connell did add the move was not "intentional," but then quickly followed up that he wouldn't have described what happened as "doxing" in the first place. "It's not a process that I would characterize as doxing. It was an unintentional release of names that were already part of a public record," he told reporters. "They were already part of a public record by being in Department of Emergency Communication's calls, so I don't think it puts them at additional risk. But it's also not an intention of the executive order under which those names are released." Fox News Digital reached out to O'Connell's office for comment but did not hear back in time for publication. Larry Adams, an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Assistant Field Office Director, told local Fox affiliate in Nashville WZTV that ICE agents disagree that making their names public is not a risk, noting their faces can easily be matched to photos on social media. "It has gotten more and more difficult," Adams said of his job under the new administration's aggressive deportation tactics, during a ride along with WZTV that occurred last week. "What affects me the most, is we understand the job we are doing, we understand what we sign up for, it's mostly the attacks or threats against our families." After Tennessee Republican Congressman Rep. Andy Ogles requested the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigate the Nashville mayor over allegedly obstructing federal officials, the agency followed through and opened an investigation. Meanwhile, two congressional committees are also investigating him, including requesting documents related to O'Connell's Executive Order 30, which has required city departments to report federal immigration communications to the city of Nashville's Office of New Americans. In an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin remarked at the danger associated with doxing federal immigration officers, noting that the act effectively handed cartels intelligence "on a silver platter." "These are the tip of the spear, these are the people on the front lines trying to make our communities safer," McLaughlin said. "So, when Democrats and the media show us who they are, we'll believe them, and it's the fact that they're fighting for people like MS-13 and child rapists to be on American streets." According to local news outlet, the Tennessee Lookout, McLaughlin has also clapped back at O'Connell's claims that the release of immigration officials' names was a mistake. "They claimed it was a mistake. There's zero chance it was a mistake, and there will be repercussions," she said, according to the outlet.
