Tennessee Tough: Mayor, country music artists rally around Nashville after Christmas Day attack

The tragic bombing in Nashville on Christmas Day has brought out support from city leaders and country music stars. The Nashville Chief of Police is publicly acknowledging six officers in praise of their bravery and dedication to the safety of those in the area at the time of the bombing. The president of the FOP in Nashville also weighed in.

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It’s been a tough year for police departments across the country and some public praise for those who performed their jobs in such a professional manner from the beginning of the impending attack until the end deserve praise.

At least six officers quickly began evacuating people from nearby buildings, according to the Tennessean. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released the officers’ names on Friday. The officers were identified as Brenna Hosey, James Luellen, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping, James Wells and Timothy Miller.

“Those officers saved lives today,” Drake said, according to the newspaper. “They immediately began knocking on doors, not knowing if the bomb was going to go off immediately. They didn’t care about themselves, they didn’t think about that, they cared about the citizens of Nashville.”

James Smallwood, president of the Fraternal Order of Police in Nashville, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” that the officers displayed “nothing short of heroism and courageous actions.”

Mayor John Cooper spoke of them as heroes. The blast knocked one officer to the ground.

Mayor John Cooper called them “heroes” at a Friday evening news conference.

“They ran to danger with uncertain outcomes ahead of them; they were responsible for so many innocents being saved,” he said.

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The mayor, a Democrat, however, was criticized on social media for his odd laughter during a press conference about the bombing. Perhaps it was a nervous reaction but laughter during such a serious press conference was noticeably out of place. He appeared to be making a joke about the bombing being the only explosion to deal with that day. Yikes. As a side note, Mayor John Cooper is the brother of U.S. Representative Jim Cooper, who represents Nashville in Washington.

During the appearance on local TV, Cooper spoke about the work that investigators would be doing at the blast site.

“They’re gonna be super-careful,” Cooper said, “and they’re gonna inspect everything and make sure that, you know, this is the only explosion that’s gonna happen in Nashville today.”

The 64-year-old Democrat, a Harvard-educated Nashville native who became the city’s mayor in September 2019, then let out a laugh before talking about broken water mains near the explosion site.

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The country music community is offering their support to the city and thanking the first responders, too. Brad Paisley posted a joint guitar performance with actor Kevin Nealon.

Sports teams offered words of encouragement and support, too. The Tennessee Titans play just east of downtown Nashville in Nissan Stadium. The Nashville Predators play its hockey games in Bridgestone Arena in downtown Nashville,

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A motive is still being investigated. As I finish writing this post, I am reading a tweet from CBS News that police have a person or persons of interest.

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 07, 2024
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