NASHVILLE – State troopers arrested two black demonstrators at Tennessee’s Capitol Thursday in the latest of a series of escalating protests, this one over continued efforts to get lawmakers to remove a bust honoring controversial Confederate cavalry general and early Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Department of Safety officials said Justin Bautista-Jones and Jeneisha Harris were arrested, with Bautista-Jones charged with two counts of simple assault and disorderly conduct.
Signs stand in front of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest and a sweatshirt covers its face during a protest Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. Protesters called for the removal of the bust, which is displayed in the hallway outside the House and Senate chambers. Violence in Virginia this weekend has given rise to a new wave of efforts to remove or relocate Confederate monuments. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)They allege Bautista-Jones threw a paper cup believed to be filled with coffee into an elevator, striking Republican House Speaker Glen Casada of Franklin and Rep. Debra Moody, R-Covington, with the fluid.
This image shows Justin Bautista-Jones, one of two protesters at the Tennessee Capitol, shortly before an alleged coffee tossing incident leading to his arrest on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. / Photo provided by Andy SherHarris was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after, troopers say, she went underneath a rope intended to keep the public from getting close to the bust located near the House and Senate chambers.
House Republican Caucus Chairman Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, said the coffee was still hot when it was thrown into the elevator. Casada could be seen inside the elevator flinching when the fluid struck the upper portion of his suit.