Nashville neo-Nazi march sparks conspiracy theories

A neo-Nazi march through the Tennessee capital on Saturday has sparked a slew of wild claims on social media that the extremist rally was staged by Democrats.

The demonstrators—seen sporting red T-shirts, black flags with swastikas emblazoned on them, and making Nazi salutes—walked through Nashville before standing in front of the state capitol building to wave their flags.

The group was identified as members of the Blood Tribe neo-Nazi group, a men-only organization started in the last four years by Christopher Pohlhaus, a former U.S. Marine and tattoo artist, according to hate watchdog the Anti-Defamation League.

Several accounts on X, formerly Twitter, pushed a narrative in which Democrats had engineered the march to support their assertions that there was a problem with white supremacy in America—with some claiming this was done with the help of federal agencies.

“This is allegedly staged by the Democrats with Feds posing as a Neo Nazi group,” one account posited, with one another since being viewed 11,700 times.

“Those are [President Joe] Biden supporters, actually,” Tara Lynn Thompson, a writer, said in a post viewed 12,100 times.

“On February 17, 2024, a Nazi group organized by the FBI held a protest in Nashville,” Lawrence Sellin, a U.S. Army veteran, claimed. “There is no White Nationalist or Supremacist movement in the U.S. So, the FBI has to create one to fit the political narrative of the Democrat Party for whom the FBI is its law-enforcement arm.”

Claims that federal agents are behind prominent incidents is a trope of many conspiracy theories, including those surrounding the January 6, 2021, uprising at the U.S. Capitol.

Newsweek approached the FBI via email for comment on Monday.

In a series of posts, Dom Lucre, a prominent online commentator, suggested that the march had been staged by two African American Democrat state lawmakers, Tennessee Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who were expelled from the chamber last year for participating in a gun control protest on the House floor.

Lucre suggested they were responsible for “setting up” the march, adding: “Democrats are desperate.” In another post, viewed 3.4 million times, he claimed he could “confirm that Democrat Rep. Justin Jones…was the FIRST person to sport [sic] the ‘Blood Trine [sic] Neo-Nazi’ march,” in reference to Jones’ video of him witnessing the march.

Newsweek approached Jones and Pearson via email for comment on Monday.

Several Democrats reacted to the march by blaming Republican lawmakers, including Jones and Pearson. Jones argued that “this is exactly what my Republican colleagues’ hate speech is fostering,” while Pearson claimed the demonstrators‘ “views are shared by many who I serve alongside on the other side of the aisle.”

“These groups once relegated to the dark corners now feel empowered to spew their noxious ideology out in the open due to our state’s leadership REFUSING to condemn their speech and actions,” Rep. Aftyn Behn, another Democratic state lawmaker, wrote.

Tennessee House Republicans faced criticism and were accused of racism after they expelled Pearson and Jones. The two were later reinstated.

Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee was among Republicans who condemned the march, writing in a statement: “Nazism and antisemitism should never be tolerated in any form. As Jewish people around the world continue to face persecution, Tennessee remains unwavering in our support.”

“Go away Nazi thugs,” Rep. William Lamberth wrote. “This is Tennessee and you are NOT welcome here.”

The state’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said: “Our Jewish brothers and sisters across Tennessee and around the world will always have this office’s unwavering support against antisemitism.”