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Vice Mayor Reacts To Metro Council Meeting Disruption

Posted at 8:12 PM, Feb 22, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-23 01:57:58-05
A protest group interrupted a Metro Nashville City Council meeting by demanding "Justice for Jocques."
 
The council had two options: stop the meeting and have the group removed, or figure out an alternative to accomplish city business as well as hear from the group, but things didn't go as smoothly as planned.
 
"They had the right to come in, and they came in and disrupted the meeting in the beginning," said David Briley, Vice Mayor of Nashville.
 
Protesters made their boisterous entrance into the metro chambers at Tuesday night's council meeting, wanting one thing," justice for Jocques."
 
Many demonstrators wanted justice by any means necessary, even if it meant bringing a metro council meeting to a dramatic halt.
 
Vice Mayor David Briley was at the center of the confrontation, and said the council is receptive to their concerns but hoped the disruption didn't hinder their cause.
 
"I just hope they didn't ruin it for themselves by allowing their behavior to get in the way of their concerns," said Vice Mayor Briley.
 
Minutes into the meeting, protestors made sure their voices were heard. Leaving council members to plead for cooperation.
 
Demonstrators came to the meeting with a list of demands, one of which asked metro council to address the MDHA allegedly harassing residents who live in the Cayce Homes.
 
But a spokesperson sent NewsChannel 5 a statement:
 
"We have no record of any complaint, especially from our residents, regarding any alleged harassment," said Jamie Berry.
 
For now, Vice Mayor Briley said he hopes change can be brought about in a more civil way.
 
"And the hard work is those 1 to 1 meetings where you convince people that it's important to have civilian oversight and that it's important to move the case to the TBI. Not much of that took place last night," said Briley.