White supremacist violence is on the rise in the United States—and Tennessee Republicans aren't interested in condemning it. When a Democrat in the Tennessee state House proposed a resolution condemning neo-Nazis and white nationalists, Republicans refused to discuss it or advance it to a vote:
"I'm in utter disbelief at what just happened," Clemmons said following the meeting. "I didn't think there was anything controversial about this resolution."
He said he had expected the resolution would be passed and placed on the House's consent calendar.
The subcommittee's sole Democrat, Rep. Darren Jernigan, D-Old Hickory, made the first motion, which was met with silence by the subcommittee's four Republican members, Reps. Bill Sanderson, Bud Hulsey, Mary Littleton and Bob Ramsey.
After being cut off by Sanderson, subcommittee chairman, from discussing the resolution, Clemmons was immediately granted a second motion to talk about an unrelated bill on studying state government contracts.
“We strongly denounce and oppose the totalitarian impulses, violent terrorism, xenophobic biases, and bigoted ideologies that are promoted by white nationalists and neo-Nazis,” the resolution reads, and “we urge law enforcement to recognize these white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups as terrorist organizations and to pursue the criminal elements of these domestic terrorist organizations in the same manner and with the same fervor used to protect the United States from other manifestations of terrorism.”
Under pressure, one of the Republicans on the subcommittee later explained that they don’t like neo-Nazis, they’re just uncomfortable calling the violent ones domestic terrorists. Which is … not a very solid defense.