Nashville Mayor Wants to Create New Government
Office Funded by Nonprofits, Including
Group Behind ‘Belonging Fund’
Posted By: philsner, 6/17/2025 7:49:39 AM
The Metro Nashville Council will vote on Tuesday on Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s request to establish the Mayor’s Office of Financial Empowerment, which would operate with grant funding from two nonprofit organizations. Should the Metro Council approve the mayor’s request, the office would receive more than half of its funding through a grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund, but would also depend on nearly $130,000 from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT), the nonprofit announced as Nashville’s partner for the “Belonging Fund” created in the wake of a federal immigration enforcement operation that saw nearly 200 illegal immigrants
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The Metro Nashville Council will vote on Tuesday on Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s request to establish the Mayor’s Office of Financial Empowerment, which would operate with grant funding from two nonprofit organizations.
Should the Metro Council approve the mayor’s request, the office would receive more than half of its funding through a grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Fund, but would also depend on nearly $130,000 from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT), the nonprofit announced as Nashville’s partner for the “Belonging Fund” created in the wake of a federal immigration enforcement operation that saw nearly 200 illegal immigrants
Former Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville Ben Schrader reportedly resigned from his post due to the “political” nature of the grand jury indictment against Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
Abrego Garcia’s grand jury indictment, which was quietly filed on May 21 and unsealed on Friday, claims that human smuggling was his full-time occupation as he allegedly completed over 100 smuggling trips across the U.S., primarily transporting illegal aliens, including minors and members of the violent MS-13 gang.
The ten-page indictment further accuses Abrego Garcia of abusing women and children during transport,
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) on Thursday called for Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to rescind the executive order, which he recently modified, mandating Metro Nashville employees report all contacts with federal immigration officials to O’Connell and the Office of New Americans.
“I’m calling on Mayor O’Connell to rescind executive order 30,” wrote Sexton in a statement posted to X. “This order has jeopardized the safety of federal and state agents to the extent that individuals are harassing and interfering in the lawful duty of these agents.”
As a consequence of the executive order, names of U.S. Department of Homeland Security
A resolution to be debated by the Metro Nashville Council this week to recognize “Immigrant Heritage Month” also condemns last month’s joint operation between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Tennessee Highway Patrol conducted in the city, which saw the arrests of 196 criminal illegal aliens.
The resolution, RS2025-1291, was filed on May 27 and is sponsored by Council Members Terry Vo, Jeff Preptit, Jennifer Gamble, Joy Styles, Antoinette Lee, Kyonzte Toombs, Brandon Taylor, Delishia Porterfield, Zulfat Suara, and Tasha Ellis.
The resolution begins by detailing the origins of Immigrant Heritage Month, explaining how the designation was started in 2014
Nashville Democrats Reportedly Contemplate
Recall for Councilman Who Appeared with
Rep. Andy Ogles 7 replies
Recall for Councilman Who Appeared with
Rep. Andy Ogles 7 replies
Two reports published Friday indicate Democratic activists in Nashville are considering an attempt to recall Metro Nashville Council Member David Benton due to his recent appearance with U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), as well as a collection of state lawmakers and federal immigration officials, at a press conference announcing the congressional probe into Mayor Freddie O’Connell for his actions in response to federal immigration enforcement.
Both The Nashville Banner and The Tennessee Lookout published reports on Friday claiming a possible recall effort could be underway targeting Benton, with The Lookout specifically reporting that “Nashville Democrats” are behind the effort.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said during a Friday press conference that he was “puzzled” by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision to designate Nashville a sanctuary city, claiming that the Metro government had worked to comply with a Tennessee law banning such cities in the Volunteer State.
The mayor also told reporters he is not worried about the congressional probe unveiled by U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on Friday, which seeks information from the mayor and Metro Nashville over his actions in response to recent federal immigration enforcement in Tennessee, including O’Connell’s executive order mandating Metro employees report
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Silent
After Metro Accused of Leaking Names of
DHS Officials 8 replies
After Metro Accused of Leaking Names of
DHS Officials 8 replies
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell did not respond to multiple press inquiries from The Tennessee Star after Metro Nashville was accused of publicly leaking the names of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Homeland Security Investigations officials who participated in the recent immigration enforcement operation that resulted in nearly 200 arrests of illegal immigrants.
O’Connell was accused of leaking the names on Wednesday by U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), who noted that Metro Nashville published names of DHS and HSI officials to a Nashville data portal affiliated with the Metro Office of New Americans.
Tennessee State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) on Wednesday joined other local elected leaders in a letter accusing President Donald Trump, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Republican officials across the country of attempting to intimidate local Democrats.
Sent by the progressive activist organization, Local Progress, the letter accuses Trump and other Republicans of attempting to intimidate Democrats through the criminal charges recently filed against U.S. Representative LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), who allegedly assaulted federal law enforcement at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in New Jersey.
It also raised the charges filed against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka,
Public records reveal that Conexion Americas, the second of three nonprofits Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and his office said provided seed money to the “Belonging Fund,” used to “support immigrants in Nashville during moments of crisis,” received nearly $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money from Metro Nashville over 2023 and 2024.
The 2023 Full Cost Plan published by Metro Nashville revealed Conexion Americas received $394,140 in ARPA money that year, with the entry listed as “Conexion Americas Eviction Serv.” There was no overhead or other expenses reflected in the report, suggesting Metro Nashville merely transferred the money
Border czar Tom Homan said he plans to visit Nashville in the “near future” to oversee increased immigration enforcement operations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the city’s mayor, Freddie O’Connell, advances efforts to shield illegal aliens from law enforcement.
Earlier this month, a joint immigration enforcement operation conducted by ICE in conjunction with the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) in Nashville resulted in the arrests of 196 criminal illegal aliens.Despite the operation seeing the removal of aliens with violent criminal histories, O’Connell has maintained that the enforcement operation was “not focused” on making the city “safer,”
Protesters were recorded pounding on the windows of the Tennessee State Capitol by U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) on Monday as he held a “Stop the Invasion” press conference inside, where he was joined by various Tennessee lawmakers who expressed support for the efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove illegal immigrants from the Volunteer State.
Ogles held the press conference after his requests for congressional probes into Mayor Freddie O’Connell over the city’s response to the recent ICE immigration enforcement operation in Nashville, which saw nearly 200 arrests. Ninety-five of these individuals had previous and pending criminal charges.
Congressman Andy Ogles to Hold an Event
in Nashville to Rally Support for Immigration Enforcement 1 reply
in Nashville to Rally Support for Immigration Enforcement 1 reply
Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) will hold a press conference on Monday in Nashville to rally support for immigration enforcement efforts in the Volunteer State.
Ogles’ event, titled “Stop the Invasion: Defend Tennessee,” will be held on Monday, May 26 at 1:00 p.m. CT at the Tennessee State Capitol to “rally support for federal law enforcement and reaffirm Tennessee’s commitment to protecting its citizens from the rising threats posed by illegal aliens.”
The event will feature officials from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Nashville City Council, the Tennessee General Assembly, and victims
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
There’s been a new, disturbing development in the case of the Chinese plot to interfere in the 2020 election. (snip) According to the recall notice, intelligence agencies weren’t just asked to disregard the report — they were ordered to “destroy all copies” and “remove the original report from all computer holdings.” This wasn’t routine bureaucratic cleanup. It was a deliberate effort to wipe damning evidence from existence. The FBI didn’t just bury credible intelligence about Chinese election interference; it tried to scrub it from history.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) teared up during a Tuesday speech on the Senate floor while recounting being “physically” and “aggressively forced out” of a press conference for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Los Angeles. The Democratic lawmaker said his federal escorts “stood by silently” as he was wrestled to the ground for interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (R) on Thursday. “I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room, even as I repeatedly announced I was a United States senator and I had a question for the secretary; even as the National Guardsman and the FBI
Carbon dioxide, we’ve been told over and again, is the enemy that must be subdued if we are to avoid catastrophic global warming. It is, however, a faulty premise. Physics, not politics, tells us that man’s CO2 emissions will not cause catastrophic climate change nor an increase in extreme weather.
“The common belief that CO2 is the main driver of climate change and the EPA Endangerment Finding assertion that ‘elevated concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may reasonably be anticipated’ to endanger the public health and welfare are scientifically false,” conclude the authors of a new paper.
Ex-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta joked in an interview posted Monday about President Donald Trump's deceased former wife's burial site and called her an example of an immigrant "doing the jobs that Americans don’t want to do."N Acosta, speaking on a "No Kings" Day episode of "The Contrarian" podcast with Jennifer Rubin, blasted Trump not only for the ICE raids, but argued he is a hypocrite on the immigration issue because of his immigrant wives, including his late first wife Ivana. "Where are the ICE raids at the Trump properties? Could somebody call ICE on the Trump golf course in Virginia?
15-ton mega bomb needed to destroy Iran’s
last nuclear facility – here’s why
Israel can’t deliver it 20 replies
last nuclear facility – here’s why
Israel can’t deliver it 20 replies
Israel needs a 15-ton ‘bunker buster’ bomb to destroy the last untouched nuclear facility in Iran, but only the US has one.
Such a powerful weapon – the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal – is needed because the target, Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, is built some 300 feet inside a mountain near the city of Qom, two hours south of Tehran.
The heavyweight explosive is known as a GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator and was designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force.
Its huge weight means it can only be delivered with a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber – a jet Israel’s air force does not possess.
Five tunnels burrowing into a group of mountains, a large support structure and a wide security perimeter: That’s all you can see of Iran’s mysterious Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant from recent satellite imagery.
The secretive, heavily guarded complex built close to the holy city of Qom has been fueling speculation about its true nature and size since it was first made public in 2009.)snip)
Its main halls are an estimated 80 to 90 meters (around 262 to 295 feet) beneath the ground – safe from any aerial bomb known to be possessed by Israel, making destroying the facility from the air a near-impossible task.
The parade of clowns on the left, performing like circus monkeys for their base, continued Wednesday, when Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman, both Democrats from New York, were denied access to an ICE Court in lower Manhattan.
The building, located at 26 Federal Plaza, is the same facility in which New York City Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested 24 hours earlier.
The ambiguously stray duo, as is the game plan these days, reminded people of their legal right and duty to inspect ICE detention facilities. They take this duty very seriously these days, although we don't recall any similar inspection efforts between January 20, 2021, and January 20, 2025.
FBI Director Kash Patel dropped a bombshell Monday evening, handing Congress an intelligence report that raises serious questions about China’s role in the 2020 election. According to the report, Chinese operatives mass-produced counterfeit U.S. driver’s licenses as part of a broader scheme to flood the system with fake mail-in ballots—benefiting… you guessed it… Joe Biden.
This wasn’t just foreign meddling—it was industrial-scale fraud, enabled by a broken mail-in voting system the Democrats have long been exploiting. The report confirms what many of us suspected all along: the integrity of the 2020 election wasn’t just compromised—it was hijacked.
Joy Behar Forgets Arnold Schwarzenegger
Is an Immigrant and Asks About ICE Raids—His
Answer Is Epic 18 replies
Is an Immigrant and Asks About ICE Raids—His
Answer Is Epic 18 replies
As conservatives, we have a sort of love/hate relationship with "The View." For as long as it has been on the air, we are constantly baffled at how it stays on the air, and who would actually use minutes of their life to go sit in the studio audience, much less watch it at home. However, the truth is that the hopelessly uninformed, vapid gals of "The View" provide some of the best nonsensical content around. Their latest guest to once again put their collective idiocy on display is former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. [Tweet, video]
"The Governator" sat down with Joy and Whoopi, et al,
Despite the opposition he's receiving from ostensibly "right-wing" figures, including Tucker Carlson, President Donald Trump is not backing down. On Monday evening, Axios and CNN reported that the White House was already working toward a "ceasefire" deal that would presumably save the Mullahs, but at 1:00 AM on Tuesday, the president held a press gaggle, slapping down those anonymously-sourced reports. It sure sounds like he wants Israel to finish the job and take this to an actual end, not just a resumption of the status quo under some "deal." Trump went so far as to say that Iran "giving up entirely" is the goal and that “I’m not too
Five days into Israel's "Rising Lion" campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as President Donald Trump is now calling for the "unconditional surrender" of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Islamists in the radical nation's government, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, says now is the "best opportunity" for the Iranian people to "finally overcome this regime and get rid of it.” During an interview with ABC News aired on Monday, Pahlavi told the interviewer that the battle within Iran — in the minds of Iranian people, that is — has been going on for decades.
Sen. Bernie Sanders is endorsing Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani in the New York City mayoral primary election.
Sanders made the announcement Tuesday morning, saying in a statement, "We need a new politics and new leadership which is prepared to stand up to powerful corporate interests and fight for the working class."
Zohran Mamdani is running an inspirational grassroots campaign, centered on the construction of 200,000 new affordable housing units, a rent freeze, free public buses, cutting fines and fees for small businesses, investing in citywide mental health services, city-owned grocery stores, universal free childcare and a minimum wage increase. He will pay for this agenda