Democrat Freddie O’Connell, the mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, is disregarding his constituents’ safety by not cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and siding with illegal immigrants, Glenn Jacobs, the Republican mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, told Newsmax on Thursday.
Last week, the House Judiciary and Homeland Security committees launched an investigation of O’Connell’s alleged obstruction of federal law enforcement operations after O’Connell condemned recent ICE actions and signed an executive order to track ICE operations and monitor any local government communications with the agency.
Jacobs, a WWE Hall of Fame wrestler known as Kane, told “Newsline” about Pierce Cochran, a young Knox County man who died after a pickup truck driven by an illegal immigrant crossed a highway median and struck Cochran’s vehicle.
“When I think of the issue of illegal immigration, one name comes to mind. That’s Pierce Cochran,” Jacobs said. “Pierce was a 22-year-old. His family is friends of mine, and it was a pretty high-profile case in Knox County. He was killed in a traffic accident with an illegal immigrant who didn’t have a license and didn’t have insurance.
“Obviously, that is one of the issues with illegal immigration that we probably don’t think of, but it does impact public safety. Public safety should not be a partisan issue. And it’s unfortunate, disappointing that Mayor O’Connell would put identity politics, which is what this really is, above public safety.”
Jacobs said O’Connell is ignoring the wishes of most of his constituents to side with “the loudest voices.”
“Unfortunately, when I say identity politics, you have a loud, very vocal minority who makes a lot of noise about this issue,” Jacobs said. “I don’t think that the vast majority of people agree with that. But unfortunately, sometimes our politicians listen to the loudest group instead of the group with the most common sense.
“The Democrats, if they want to be viable at all, they’re going to have to find some people who are much more moderate and have common sense. But just like the mayor of Nashville, they’re dominated by the extreme left wing and the really loud voices. That’s good for Republicans. It’s not good for Democrats, and frankly, I don’t know if it’s good for the country.”
GET TODAY :
is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the channel on your cable system –
Sign up for and get , our streaming channel and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight’s special series and President Trump’s comedy programs and much more!
Watch on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch anytime, anywhere!
Start your now:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
