NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Counsel for the city of Nashville has released a timeline after traffic stops and detainments across the city last weekend by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (HSI) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to Metropolitan Government for Nashville Director of Law Wally Dietz, the coordinated effort of the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) with ICE caught "everyone at Metro by surprise."
Click here to read the entire statement from Metro.
The city of Nashville insists the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) played no role and was not involved in any way in the joint operation.
Below is the city of Nashville's timeline:
Thursday May 1, 2025 at 11:47 am:
A man identifying himself as "Inspector Jackson Sanders" from the Federal Protective Service of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (the entity that safeguards federal buildings) telephoned the Department of Emergency Communications to request extra police patrol at Nashville's ICE facility on Sunday. Sanders told the call taker that there would be operations throughout the weekend and there was a concern of backlash by families coming to the ICE Facility on Sunday.
The call taker entered the information into the computer system and "scheduled" the extra patrol request, much as you would set an alarm, to appear on the Sunday dispatcher's screen at 10 a.m.
Overnight Saturday, May 3 and early hours on Sunday, May 4:
THP and ICE conduct a joint operation in Nashville resulting in approximately 150 traffic stops and "a few" arrests. There was no involvement by MNPD.
Sunday morning, May 4:
Upon seeing the request for extra patrol appear on her computer screen at 10 a.m., a DEC dispatcher relayed the request for extra patrol at 501 Brick Church Park Drive to North Precinct Sergeant Megan Lamon and North Precinct Officer Cory Bean at 10:04 a.m. The call text, as typed by the call taker on Thursday and dispatched to the sergeant and officer on Sunday, reads as follows: "Req Xtra patrol for every hour on Sunday/ concerned there will be retaliate from family members on Sunday due to detaining subjs."
Seeing the unusual call text for the first time, the sergeant and the officer drove to the ICE facility after the 10:04 a.m. dispatch. They went inside to inquire what the call was about. Around this same time, Metro officials and the MNPD began hearing reports of an overnight ICE operation in South Nashville.
After inquiring what the call was about, the sergeant and officer left the facility. The officer answered unrelated calls Sunday morning before returning to 501 Brick Church Park Drive to do an extra patrol. As he drove around from the backside of the property, he saw that the driveway was mostly blocked by people who had gathered. The officer made his way through and the MNPD personnel who had responded concerning a potential protest left the property. To ensure public safety, officers monitored the crowd of people from across the way until they were relieved by the THP.
Conclusion:
After reviewing the calls, talking with the departments involved, and reviewing publicly released information from the THP and ICE, there is no evidence to suggest MNPD involvement in the joint operation. MNPD routinely receives requests for extra patrols for a variety of reasons and responds to the extent resources are available.
Moreover, the names of those detained and the reason for their detainment are not known by Metro. [Dietz] sent a letter to THP requesting the names of people arrested and the charges against them. THP has replied stating that [Dietz] needs to complete an Open Records request. Late Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security claimed to have made arrests in conjunction with criminal activity but have provided no information to identify an alleged perpetrator or their charges.
Dietz has sent a letter to three ICE field offices requesting the agency identify the individuals taken into custody, their charges and their locations.
An estimated 150 traffic stops were performed through out the city and an unknown number of people were detained and taken away in charter buses.
According to a THP press release, the agency's role in the joint operation is to observe driving behavior and conduct lawful stops based on violations of Tennessee traffic laws.
Preliminary results released by the THP resulted in 369 stops for observed traffic violations. These included:
- Hazardous Moving Violations
- 2 DUI arrests
- 1 child endangerment arrest
- 1 felony evading arrest
- 2 drug arrests
- 4 felony wanted persons
- 1 motorist assist
According to the THP, ICE detained 94 individuals for further investigation and transport, including a convicted child sex predator and a known Tren de Aragua gang member.
Less than 10 Troopers were assigned to the operation to enforce Tennessee traffic laws related to hazardous moving violations, which is required under state law, according to a THP press release, and immigration matters were handled separately by ICE under federal authority.
No additional information was immediately released.
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