Anti-ICE demonstrators have shut down a company called CoreCivic, which contracts with Immigration & Customs Enforcement:
Demonstrators are occupying the entrance to CoreCivic, a Nashville-based private prison operator that contracts with ICE. They've shut down multiple entrances, set up tents & replaced CCA/Tennessee flag with "No borders." Employees are just starting to arrive. pic.twitter.com/zPS2SpDTPG
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
They say they're staying out here until CoreCivic is abolished. Demonstrators told me they're prepared to remain out here for days. They also have a trampoline out here. They've been out here for about an hour and cops are just now arriving. pic.twitter.com/fdZ9Op5qJi
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
"We have no intention of leaving," said the Rev. Jeannie Alexander. "It's a nonviolent, peaceful resistance." Look closely and you'll see a person dangling and taking photos from a very tall tripod if they made. That person is up there to stay, Jeannie said. pic.twitter.com/XZTvpTjkwP
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
And of course the protesters don’t recognize private property rights of anybody doing something they disagree with:
Police just told a lawyer to inform the group CoreCivic is willing to press charges since they're on private property. Jeannie Alexander said protesters "do not recognize this as private property" and that the space has now been appropriated for the people of Tennessee. pic.twitter.com/9v3HhVHCFg
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
Good luck with that. But there’s something fitting about their disrespect for certain borders, considering the “cause.”
Ashley Dixon is a former CoreCivic guard who worked at Trousdale Turner in Hartsville, TN. She left around eight months ago. "I quit because I witnessed two people die due to medical neglect," she said. Two of the tombstone signs are for them, Jonathan Salada and Jeff Mihm. pic.twitter.com/PR20BS918W
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
There are about 10 CoreCivic employees waiting by their cars in a parking lot across from the entrance. I talked to a few and some of them seem pretty freaked out and unsure what they're supposed to be doing. pic.twitter.com/JdRjxxdjND
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
About a dozen cops are here now. More employees arriving. This is at the CoreCivic office's main entrance, but two parking garage entrances are also being blocked by demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/Hm7tgSgcXz
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
A couple officers are taking a look up at the woman hanging from the tripod. I asked the cop if they would be able to remove her and they said they had "the proper equipment and training" to do so. Group members said it will be extremely dangerous. pic.twitter.com/zGBgXLmG7Z
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
At parking garage entrances around the corner, some demonstrators have locked their arms into barrels filled with concrete. The police are still waiting around, appearing to be waiting on some kind of order. Sheriff's office is also here. pic.twitter.com/eiXVjNMpo9
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
The tripod tactic has been made popular by environmental justice activists. It's a way to occupy a space for longer by requiring officers to spend more time figuring out how to bring the protester down. #ResistICENashville trained on how to assemble it. pic.twitter.com/LyaMjwWklp
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
It's hard to see because of the harsh sunlight, but @MNPDNashville's special operations team is here. They have a mobile adjustable ramp truck they're going to use to bring down the person who is hanging. It seems like they're preparing to remove demonstrators. pic.twitter.com/ZRyfvinyap
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
A huge bus from the Davidson County Sheriff's Office is here and an ambulance just arrived. The bus looks like it's used for transporting detainees. Protesters have moved their trampoline in front of the tripod to block the truck when it comes over. pic.twitter.com/QHtRVGkbO1
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
It's a mobile adjustable ramp system, AKA @MNPDNashville's MARS truck. I also did not know about its existence until today. https://t.co/i1IRTyt9tM
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
And some of the demonstrators have cemented their legacy… as complete tools:
Here the cops are trying to figure out how they're going to get these people up who have locked their hands inside of barrels full of cement weighing hundreds of pounds. pic.twitter.com/pdD4FVeCzD
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
They might have to stay there for a long time if nobody even tries to move them.
The folks in the @Tennessean newsroom are taking my reports from out at @CoreCivic this morning. Here's the story on what's going on with #ResistICENashville today. Arrests still have not begun. https://t.co/HSkJgKSpkv
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) August 6, 2018
Protesters blocking the entrance at @CoreCivic hq in Green Hills pic.twitter.com/I1f8RUfX1T
— Rebecca Cardenas (@RebeccaWSMV) August 6, 2018
Demonstrators tell me they’re raising awareness for inhumane prison conditions — @CoreCivic is nation’s largest owner and operator of private prisons & contracts w/ ICE pic.twitter.com/pc5LAclV2y
— Rebecca Cardenas (@RebeccaWSMV) August 6, 2018
At the end of the day they’ll realize that, yes, there is such a thing as trespassing on private property even if you disagree with the owner of that property.
So many failed parents led to this https://t.co/tY2FLELizm
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) August 6, 2018
So they have cemented their hands into a barrel of concrete? Someone in their lives have failed to teach them what happens when concrete hardens.
— Intense American ⚔️ (@IntenseAmerican) August 6, 2018
Question: Have the protesters figured out how they will get out of that at some point?
I guess they would need to go to the bathroom, pop over to Mickey D’s or go home to go watch The View or something. https://t.co/dsEXJdqXf9
— Brienne of Tart ⭐️ (@MsMakita) August 6, 2018
Stay tuned!