About That Viral Pic Displaying Neo-Nazis with Swastika Flags on the Tennessee State Capitol

Declare:

A photograph authentically confirmed neo-Nazis waving swastika flags on the Tennessee State Capitol in February 2024.

Score:

In February 2024, a photograph circulated extensively on-line, appearing to show masked neo-Nazis waving swastika flags close to the Tennessee state Capitol.

We investigated the photograph’s backstory and concluded it was an genuine picture of neo-Nazis taken from a video uploaded to X (previously Twitter) by a Tennessee state lawmaker. As such, we price this declare “True.”

The lawmaker, Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson, appeared to have recorded the video whereas driving by the Capitol on Feb. 17. On that day, a bunch of neo-Nazis — sporting purple shirts and black masks, with some waving the swastika flags — gathered for a rally in downtown Nashville, based on native information reviews.

“I am disgusted that Nazis are comfy doing this however I’m not shocked,” Pearson stated within the X put up with the video.

In a Feb. 18 article that used Storyful, a social media analysis company that verifies on-line content material, KTTV also confirmed Pearson was the footage’s videographer. We reached out to Pearson to study extra concerning the circumstances surrounding the video recording, and we are going to replace this report if we obtain a response.

It was unknown who, or what group, took a screenshot of Pearson’s video for the picture that went viral on Reddit and different social media platforms.

Throughout our evaluation of that in-question photograph, we checked out different images of the Tennessee State Capitol to substantiate the surroundings matched. It did; the picture depicted a big door with two white pillars under the group, identical to different photographs of the federal government constructing.

We additionally used Google’s reverse-image search device, which uncovered different footage of the neo-Nazis close to the Capitol.

Nashville TV information station WKRN shared movies documenting the rally and interviewed some Tennessee lawmakers about it. Legislators from each political events condemned the occasion on social media.

It was unknown precisely how many individuals participated within the rally. NBC News, which verified some movies documenting the occasion, referred to as the group “small” and famous they have been all males. That outlet additionally reported their shirts stated “Blood Tribe” in reference to what the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as a white supremacist membership group based in 2021 by neo-Nazi and ex-Marine Christopher Pohlhaus.

Based on NBC Information, Nashville police confirmed the the group’s presence close to the Capitol and stated no arrests have been made. “Neo-Nazi demonstrators … carried flags with swastikas, walked across the Capitol and elements of downtown Saturday afternoon,” police instructed the outlet. “Some individuals on Broadway challenged the group, most of whom wore face coverings. The group headed to a U-Haul field truck, bought in, and departed Davidson County.”

There was no additional details about the reported incident through which individuals supposedly “challenged the group.” Nonetheless, Al Jazeera revealed cellphone footage depicting the neo-Nazis and the voice of a person offscreen calling them “cowards” and asking them to take off their masks to point out their faces.

Throughout the rally, Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn shared a unique photograph on X, writing: “Our workplace is carefully monitoring the Nazi rally downtown— these teams as soon as relegated to the darkish corners now really feel empowered to spew their noxious ideology out within the open because of our state’s management REFUSING to sentence their speech and actions.”

Additionally, Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones posted a video of himself on X with the gang within the background. He wrote: “Simply left an occasion honoring a Black sorority and spoke of the necessity to unite in opposition to the rising tide of white supremacy, solely to be confronted by Nazis marching by downtown Nashville.”

Sources:

Evon, Dan. “Snopes Suggestions: A Information To Performing Reverse Picture Searches.” Snopes, 22 Mar. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/.

Kirby, Rollin. “Sieg Heil!” 1941, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016682878/.

“Man Confronts Neo-Nazis Marching in Nashville.” Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/2/18/man-confronts-neo-nazis-marching-in-nashville. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Masked Demonstrators Wave Nazi Flags in Entrance of Tennessee Capitol.” FOX TV Stations, 18 Feb. 2024, https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/masked-demonstrators-wave-nazi-flags-in-front-of-tennessee-capitol. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Nazi Marchers at State Capitol Immediate Bipartisan Blowback.” The Tennessean, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2024/02/18/nazi-marchers-at-capitol-in-nashville-prompt-bipartisan-blowback/72651479007/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Neo-Nazi Ex-Marine Buys Up Land in Rural Maine for ‘Blood Tribe.'” Southern Poverty Legislation Heart, https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/07/27/neo-nazi-ex-marine-buys-land-rural-maine-blood-tribe. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Neo-Nazis March in Nashville, Depart after Being Challenged.” NBC Information, 19 Feb. 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/neo-nazis-march-nashville-leave-challenged-rcna139415. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Tennessee Lawmakers React to Group of “Nazis” Marching by Downtown Nashville.” WKRN, Feb. 18, 2024, www.youtube.com, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IxO9zfiQN0. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Tennessee State Capitol.” Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Tennessee_State_Capitol#/media/File:Tennessee_State_Capitol_in_July_2021.jpg. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.

“Tennessee State Capitol.” Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Tennessee_State_Capitol. Accessed 19 Feb. 2024.