NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police say they were not asked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to help execute warrants in an Antioch neighborhood.
MNPD says officers received a call at 1:55 p.m. Wednesday that someone had been struck by an ICE vehicle in the parking lot of Townes at Hamilton apartment complex. Officers arrived to find no one had been injured, and the person involved chose not to make a report and returned to protest the presence of the ICE agents.
When officers noticed roughly 20 to 30 people in the parking lot interacting with the federal agents, they called for additional units to help prevent tensions from escalating further.
"The officers were unaware of any ICE operation prior to arriving and, upon arrival, had the mission of keeping the peace between the parties. This while ensuring that the protestor's right to protest was protected," a statement said.
We’re told an ICE supervisor informed an MNPD supervisor that the target of the operation ran into an apartment and that a federal arrest warrant was issued.
Federal agents were seen using “loud distraction devices” to enter the apartment and take the man into custody.
"As the federal agents left, MNPD officers attempted to further de-escalate by keeping pedestrians and moving vehicles separated in the apartment complex driveway. MNPD officers also delayed the entry of a school bus into the apartment complex as all of this was occurring. In summary, MNPD officers had no knowledge of this ICE operation and went there in response to a call for service at 1:55 p.m. We saw and understand the passion of the protesters. The mission of MNPD officers was to keep the peace and de-escalate the situation if possible. The officers were not there to support ICE or the ICE operation. They were there to keep people safe," a statement said.
Images and reports from those at the apartment complex showed repeated confrontations between protestors and federal agents, but also MNPD officers.
Music City Migra Watch sent a statement that read:
MCMW received a call regarding ICE at Townes at Hamilton, a community in Antioch, Tennessee, beginning around 6:25 A.M. Over the course of the day our volunteers documented ICE agents coming and going and then witnessed as sudden escalation in the mid-afternoon of over 20 ICE agents and over 15 ICE vehicles. ICE or the US Marshals detonated a flash grenade minutes before children unloaded from a public school bus. MCMW volunteers spotted law enforcement deploying riot shields, tasers, flash grenades and M4 rifles in addition to handguns. Metro Nashville Police were seen securing the perimeter and creating a physical boundary between concerned residents and ICE agents. According to volunteers who spoke to MNPD officers, officers said that they were there to respond to a noise complaint and over 20 police officers quickly gathered in a precinct where response times are typically much longer. Despite MNPD officers stating they were there for a "noise complaint," they directly coordinated with the ICE operation and MCMW volunteers even report that MNPD officers made statements to community members justifying ICE's attack on families at the apartment complex. MNPD Sergeant reportedly said to concerned community members, 'They came here illegally so that makes them criminals."
This comes nearly one year after MNPD and Mayor Freddie O'Connell's office faced heavy criticism over when they were notified that an ICE operation would take place near Nolensville Pike, which led to more than a hundred arrests.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates later obtained footage from a joint operation by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and ICE which revived questions about whether drivers were racially profiled.
This is a developing story.
If you have any questions or comments you'd like to share about what happened in this case, you can email me at Levi.Ismail@newschannel5.com.
