Two arrests have unfolded on the streets of Nashville after a protest, featuring participants carrying Nazi flags, led to a violent altercation. Ryan Scott McCann, a 29-year-old from Ontario, Canada, has been accused of using his flagpole as a weapon against a downtown Nashville bartender, resulting in felony aggravated assault and disorderly conduct charges. WSMV reported that the incident escalated when McCann hit the bar employee with the pole following a conflict with the protest group.
Authorities identified the bartender as 19-year-old Deago Buck, who reportedly scuffled with protestors prior to the assault by McCann. After a separation of the involved parties, McCann struck Buck in the face and ribs using the flagpole. Buck himself was also taken into custody on misdemeanor charges for disorderly conduct and resisting police, and was released on an $2,000 bond, according to dispatchers in a statement obtained by FOX17.
These troubling events occurred on Sunday afternoon at Broadway and 3rd Avenue. The Neo-Nazi group's presence, complete with the display of their hateful insignia, was under the watch of Metro Nashville Police officers due to concerns over free speech, as described by WKRN. McCann is currently held on a bond of $81,000, and the judicial commissioner ruled that a source hearing before a Davidson County judge is necessary.
This incident shadows another hateful demonstration that occurred just over a week ago, where over 100 individuals, linked to the group Patriot Front, marched through Nashville's streets. In response to these consecutive occurrences of extremism, Nashville's Mayor Freddie O’Connell spoke out on Twitter. He underscored a collective duty to "work both to recognize the incredible power of the First Amendment while rejecting the most hateful and painful of its possibilities," FOX17 reported. Metro Police Chief John Drake also issued a statement condemning the hate advanced by the Neo-Nazi group and commended the MNPD officers for their surveillance of the group's activities.
