These new restrictive proposals come after protests by far-right groups have worried some; groups that the mayor himself has previously called “clown cars of a circus of fear and hatred.”

“It seems likely that we are unfortunately creating some kind of public image of Nashville as potentially welcoming to these ideologies,” said Nashville-based extremism expert, Amy Cooter. “It is perhaps also true that we will continue to see activity like this moving forward.”

“It’s long been true that we sometimes see group activity like this in places where the group sees it almost as a political or cultural battleground…that could very well be true with Nashville being a pretty blue city in an otherwise red state,” Cooter said.

“We did see our mayor, we did see our governor come out with statements after the last batch of pop-up terrorism in Nashville from ‘Patriots Front,’ but in terms of how they interpret that…they don’t see that as a meaningful kind of consequences,” Cooter said.

“Those who abuse the powers of the First Amendment for the powers of hatred and fear are not entitled to tolerance and acceptance,” said Mayor O’Connell at the event. “We will continue our efforts to ensure they confront ongoing difficulty when they try.”

“This will be a reoccurring instance and I think it’ll continue to get more and more violent if you are familiar with these groups’ track records,” Behn said.

“I have worked with the Department of Law and Metro Council to introduce four pieces of legislation that boost public safety while simultaneously protecting First Amendment rights to peacefully gather and speak,” O’Connell said in a Mayor’s Office statement.

“Political tensions are high, and this legislation will help us discourage behavior that can spark violence. When political violence prevents government functions or creates public safety issues, we must have the tools in our toolkit to respond effectively,” O’Connell said in the statement.

“We can protect both speech and spaces. Nashvillians should feel safe trying to access public resources. Today, we announced a legislative package intended to improve safety in common sense ways. I look forward to working with #MetroCouncilNash on these bills,” O’Connell wrote in an August 23 X post.

He also hopes to adjust a mask-wearing ordinance that previously banned face mask-wearing, allowing there to be exceptions for religious or medical purposes.

Another ordinance would prohibit “the distribution of handbills on private property before sunrise and after sunset.”

“I am 100% [anti-extremist] but this is bad. Buffer zones = areas where government will lack transparency.  This is about civil rights and government accountability. Very disturbing Freddie,” wrote X user Rob Wynkoop.