‘CAPITOL’ OFFENSE: Casada Chief of Staff Fibbed About Emails Before Clash
At the capitol on Thursday, Speaker Glen Casada had a run-in with a group of young engaged and active citizens who have become regulars in the halls of the Tennessee legislature expressing their disgust with the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the KKK, which is still featured prominently in the lobby.
Speaker Casada slipped out a back door. The trooper initially wouldn’t let reporters out into the hallway where the protesters were waiting. He finally moved out of the way after @schelzig demanded they let us out. #tnleg pic.twitter.com/Zvj1Df6o09
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) February 21, 2019
The group had been trying to schedule a meeting with Casada for weeks. In emails obtained by The Holler, Justin Jones, one of the leaders, emails Casada and his chief of staff Cade Cothren with reporters copied on the email asking to schedule 20 minutes for the group to come in and plead their case for why the bust should be removed:
After repeated attempts to communicate, Cothren finally responds to an email saying “it looks like we can get you in during the first week of March”:
Jones then immediately responds affirming that date works, and asking for Casada’s position on the bust so they can be prepared when they get there:
A few days go by with silence from Cothren, so Jones replies again:
Two days later, on Thursday, the group showed up in the lobby to talk to Cothren in person. The video can be seen below, in which Cothren asks to see Jones’ phone, then tells Jones he had the spelling of “capitol” wrong in his emails and makes the claim that that’s why he hasn’t responded.
As you can see in the emails above, that simply is not the case.
The claim is even more preposterous considering Jones was responding to an email Cothren had already sent.
In the video, Jones then sees Casada coming down the stairs and asks him directly for a meeting, to which Casada replies “we’re meeting!” before pushing Jones, who had slid in front of Casada’s path, aside.
Troopers then forcibly removed Jones from the door Casada disappeared behind as Jones shouted through it.
Nobody was hurt, and things immediately calmed down as Jones and fellow protestors, including Jeneisha Harris, talked to the troopers, who assured them they were there to protect everyone.
As they talk to the trooper Rep. David Byrd can be seen walking by, which Jones points out might be something they should be more concerned with considering he has apologized on tape for sexual misconduct with high school players he coached, as CNN pointed out yesterday.
Casada can be seen in one of our previous videos about that topic lying on tape about meeting with those victims also. Anyone else sensing a theme here?
If you are, holler at Casada HERE to tell him and his office to stick to the truth, meet with the protestors, pull down the bust, and get rid of Rep. David Byrd, the admitted sex offender Casada promoted to chair of an education subcommittee.
When @GlenCasada put his hands on us- the trooper said “he had a right to defend himself.”
When Rep. Byrd admitted on tape to sexual assault- Casada said “he had a right to due process.”
It seems the only ppl who have rights in TN are privileged white men who abuse their power.
— Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) February 23, 2019
