A Planned Parenthood affiliate in Tennessee intends to bring a cadre of armed security personnel when its members protest a special session regarding gun control at the state House in a few months.
That report stems from exclusive recordings obtained by the Tennessee Star. According to the outlet, a mole infiltrated a meeting held by the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood on Saturday and recorded much of what was said. The outlet will slowly reveal much of the content captured in those recordings over several days.
The first bombshell from the recordings suggests that TAPP members have contacted an armed security group to help ensure “protest safety” when they head to the state House in August to protest a special session. “Also, like, there are groups who do this in Nashville – keep in mind – who, you know, like, if at any point you need armed security at a protest, there are people who we trust as a community to show up and do that,” a meeting leader said, her vocal inflections regularly ascending into uptalk.
During the special session, Republican Governor Bill Lee is expected to introduce a bill that would restrict gun rights in the state. Thus, TAPP apparently wants to bring guns to a protest regarding gun control.
The woman also gave a brief explanation of the dynamics of an organized protest and revealed a glimpse of just how tactical and well-coordinated many of these leftist protests are. “So this is, like, very much an intro into protest safety and what to do – how to come up with a plan if you are gonna plan an action,” she said. “But a big part of doing protest safety is knowing where you are best suited for.
“If you are best suited for logistics,” she continued, “you’re not best suited to be a safety captain that day. If you are somebody who shows up armed and you have that training, you are best suited to be off the safety roster that day. You know, you are to be on the periphery of the action, not to be, like, you know, doing crowd safety or crowd marshaling that day. You are there because you literally cannot be involved in the action. You are only on the periphery.”
Those comments can be heard below:
Julie Edwards, the advocacy and organizing manager of TAPP who also attended the meeting on Saturday, reiterated the purpose of TAPP’s presence at the upcoming special session in Nashville: “We are investing in y’all as activists, with the promise that y’all will show up when we need you to show up.”
Edwards reiterated that while the goal of the TAPP meeting on Saturday was to discuss specific strategies for the protest of the special session in August, TAPP members are expected to implement similar strategies for activism in their local communities. “I know some of y’all aren’t from Nashville,” she added. “So we’re trusting y’all to go back in your communities, share this information, and f*** it up when it needs to happen.”
According to its website, TAPP works to “protect” and advocate for the Planned Parenthood facilities in Tennessee and northern Mississippi and their legislative and community agendas.
Protests at the Tennessee state House have made the news several times this year, mostly on account of the shooting at the Covenant School in March. A couple weeks after the horrific shooting, three members of the Tennessee House of Representatives — all Democrats — came under fire for their involvement in a raucous gun-control protest that resulted in activists breaching the chamber. Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were briefly expelled from the legislative body but quickly reinstated. Rep. Gloria Johnson avoided the temporary expulsion because her behavior during the incident was more measured.
“She did not yell. She did not pound the desk. She did not hold a megaphone, she did not have a button on. She did nothing. She walked from there to there,” claimed House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons.
The following video shows a demonstration held by abortion supporters in Tennessee shortly before Roe v. Wade was overturned last summer:
Tennessee Planned Parenthood worried about impact of potential overturn of Roe v. Wade
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