GAINESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — For almost two years, some residents in Jackson County have been resisting what they view as a far-right takeover of their community.
Recently, the developers behind that effort came to Gainesboro with a proposal to build a drone manufacturing facility right in the middle of town.
What happened next was unlike anything the town had ever seen.
"Thank everybody for coming out. It’s the biggest crowd, I guess, that Gainesboro’s ever had,” newly elected Mayor Ricky Head said last week as people packed the board’s meeting room.
The proposal came from the developers behind a project—which has now grown to involve more acreage than the town of Gainesboro itself—where they hope to attract far-right Christians from across the country to make Jackson County their home.
It's a development first revealed two years ago by a pair of Christian nationalist podcasters whose extreme views led to an open resistance campaign in which residents declared "Hate Has No Home in Gainesboro."
“I would ask you to give it serious consideration and put paychecks over politics in this,” developer Josh Abbotoy told the board.
His proposal was to buy a city-owned building that sits just behind City Hall – and behind the developer's own offices – on the edge of downtown Gainesboro.
Residents had recently learned about the plan to try to buy the former shirt factory when a video suddenly appeared online for a newly formed company called Highland War Industries.
An AI-generated video demonstrated the motors that the company would like to build for drones with heavy-lift capability for the U.S. military.
The company’s pitch was patriotic: “When warfighters call, we will answer.”
“The projections are that this will generate over 300K in state and local taxes per year and that, secondarily, this factory will generate over $20 million in direct and indirect economic activity in Gainesboro,” Abbotoy insisted.
The developer hoped the promise of 40 jobs for the struggling region would help sell the concept.
But he also put out a call in a Facebook group called "Upper Cumberland Conservative Christians," saying, "Alright friends, don't do this often but we need help!"
He concluded, "I'd be grateful [for] any and all supports [sic] showing up at this meeting! If you come early, I've got Tshirts for you."
A couple of residents were persuaded by the promise of jobs.
“And they are very willing to train people, and I don’t know how we can say no to something like that,” local GOP activist Diane Murphy told the board during a public comment period.
Others were skeptical about whether it belonged downtown.
“Right in between all these houses in the middle of Gainesboro to bring a military manufacturing facility, it makes no sense whatsoever,” resident Barry Naff said.
Some argued it felt like a ploy.
“Do you want to sit here and just tell us you are going to hire Jackson County people?” local businesswoman Cassie Hood asked.
“I mean, it would be dishonest to try to guarantee that every job is going to go to a local resident,” Abbotoy admitted. “There can be a commitment to hire local and try to hire local, but you can’t guarantee it.”
Several residents suggested they were suspicious of the man who wants to build the drone motors.
Stephen Totter is a soon-to-be military retiree from New York who has bought property from the developers.
After word broke about his plan, he admitted to residents that he currently has no contracts to build drone motors for the military. He doesn't even have a patent for a design.
Some speculated that the real motive was that the resisters have been able to thwart efforts by the developers to buy other buildings in downtown Gainesboro.
“Y’all, that building’s not going there, that business is not going there. He just wants the building,” Naff continued.
“He said he wants to bring 40 jobs, good-paying jobs to the fine citizens of Jackson County. I say, that’s absolute bullsh-t.”
Then, when it came time to see if the board would accept the offer, no one was interested.
“Ok, I guess that’s what it is. Dies of lack of a motion,” the mayor said as members of the audience erupted into applause.
Outside, Josh Abbotoy seemed to take the defeat in stride.
"It’s the city’s decision, you know,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of factors to weigh, so we always knew making an unsolicited offer was kind of a long shot. So, glad they considered it.”
We followed up, "Does this indicate that the community is not as bought into your project as you would like to portray?"
"No, no. No further comment."
Opponents felt they had dodged a bullet.
"Those of us that are used to looking at financial details of deals saw that it wasn’t a good deal for the city—so there were a lot of concerns on a lot of levels,” said Diana Mandli.
Aurora Wells agreed. “I’m relieved that so many of our citizens here in Jackson County showed up. And I also know that we’ve got to continue to show up."
Meanwhile, the man behind the drone company told residents before the meeting that he still planned to pursue the project even if that means building it elsewhere in Jackson County or in a neighboring community.
The controversy over the right-wing Jackson County project, first revealed by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, is the subject of a recently released Bloomberg podcast, Our Town.
You can watch an interview with the podcasters below:
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Do you have information that would help me with my investigation? Send me your tips: phil.williams@newschannel5.com
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