FOX News comes to Hendersonville. Raised up a lot of one-sided accusations. Never talked with the both sides. But that wouldn't make good fake news.
But Renee B, who never saw anything, states on Nextdoor:
She got 191 comments. Looks like FOX News got what it wanted. Maybe quality reporting would not be worth mentioning. So sad!
Additional Report Below 3/22/23
FROM NextDoor Neighbor 3/22/23 by Carlton R. Mt. Vernon Estates
The below is my take on the Hendersonville Library issue. I have details, facts and postings to support most of it. Some of it may need to be fact-checked or corroborated. Use your own judgement to evaluate the issue. I broke it in to three parts to make it an easier read.
As
a resident Tennessean, I am concerned that a mountain was made out of a
molehill regarding innocent and unintentional staff actions, which
resulted in threats, accusations, and the firing of the director - not
to mention that the library staff has continued to be subjected to
harassment because of this.
The ramifications are that the library staff
have been demonized and will continue to be under threat. Local
officials had a duty to stand by their own staff and residents rather
than falsely base their conclusions on hearsay from the 'guests', and
without evidence. They should have defused the situation from the very
start, rather than let it get out of hand.
IMO, this is an example of a modern day witchhunt !
To all reading this, irrespective of your political or religious
leanings, evaluate what happened based on facts, evidence, logic and
merits, rather than blindly believing politicians and guests who have an
agenda.
Its OK to disagree on many things, its not OK to falsely
accuse, attack, and destroy someone's reputation and livelihood to
further an agenda. You might be on the receiving end of this MO one day !
PART 1 - Kirk Cameron had a CHILDRENS book reading event scheduled at the library, and a room was reserved for the same. The reading was championed by several Sumner County local officials who support Cameron's agenda. The Library agreed to it, and advertised it. However, as the event date neared, the Library Director after discussions with the Fire Chief, realized the size of the crowd would be a concern from a safety and crowd control perspective, and suggested that the event be relocated to a bigger venue - a church. This was agreed to by the publisher, library, church and the mayor, and notices were sent out about this. However, Cameron and certain local officials INSISTED that the reading be relocated back to the library, so the library with its limited space, limited staff (besides working regular stuff and hours), had to scramble to deal with the crowd for the relocated event. Rumblings on social media started to propagate a narrative that the library was trying to 'cancel' the event, because of staff political preferences. On the day of the event prior to the library opening, Cameron and his crew decided to film promos outside of their reserved space, near the front desk where staff were working - this was not part of the actual contract (location or promos). Apparently, they had some verbal permission from the director to do this without any specifics or restrictions conveyed to the staff, given the suddenness of the request. Per feedback from Cameron, Missy Robertson (Duck Dynasty), Riley Gaines, the staff subjected them to noise, music, etc, to disturb this filming - as stated in media and podcasts. Still not clear is why Riley Gaines was there filming a segment on her issue with trans-athletes, when this was advertised as a CHILDRENS book reading (this apparently did make the director feel that the event was being politicized) ? But the staffs perspective, was that they were conducting their regular business of handling books, etc. without knowing that they were supposed to be mindful of the unscheduled, ad hoc, filming that suddenly took place near their location. A video exists that actually shows one instance of noise in a back room while Gaines is filming, she rudely asking staff to quieten down, and they doing so. Supposedly an audio exists showing more of the staff actions, but only 'transcripts' are available, no context. The rest of the event went on without a hitch - Cameron posted on social media over how the event was going well, etc. On social media however, the Daily Wire and Fox News reported that Cameron had complained of 'blowback' from the library, several local officials posted on their FB page that they had heard of library staff causing problems, etc. Missy Robertson claimed on her podcast that she experienced the blowback, Gaines mentioned to the Daily Wire that she also experienced the same. This opened the floodgates for several of the public to lambast the library, staff, and director on social media, by phone, emails, etc, and calls for their job terminations, for supposedly being rude and causing problems for these 'guests'. Also to note, the relevant local officials, while insinuating staff were responsible for causing problems based on what they heard (but didn't see themselves), cautioned a rush to judgement, advocated for an investigation, and urged 'respect' for the staff. Also, Mayor Jamie Clary gave an interview, where he vouched for the staff, felt that staff were vilified unfairly, and blamed Fox for stoking a false narrative. There was also a bomb threat emailed to the library, and the culprit was apprehended and is being investigated.
(edited)
PART 2 The Library Board convened a meeting to discuss the issue of the director and staff being 'rude' or 'not welcoming' to guests. Prior to the meeting three Board members resigned for reasons not stated, and were replaced by others. Only seven(7) of the ten(10) members participated. The meeting which is available on YouTube, starts with Mayor Isbell stating that he was aware of event relocation plans, thought there were some issues with the organization of the event, and recommended more training and organization for the staff. It was followed by Renee Brewer - an actual private investigator (who is also the OP of this thread), and who absolved the library of any blame. She also alluded to the fact that she returned her retainer (fee) for services that she considered partisan, and conducted her own investigation. This was followed by others including Allan Morales's sister who strongly defended her brother. See the video for details. Of note though is the speech by Tim Jones (County Commission District 23) who stated that he did his own investigation and based on hearsay from Cameron, Missy, Gaines and other attendees, the Gaines video, an audio 'transcript', and feedback from an 'anonymous' staffer, concluded that a 'triggered' individual was responsible for the library disturbances, and this individual was NOT the director. After the hearing, the Library Board voted 4-3 to terminate the director. The 'triggered' individual remains employed.
Part 3
From Tim Jones FB page, his posts - 1) 'For the record, I do not think Mr. Morales is a bad man. I believe him at his word that he is a Christian. I do not think this should be a question in anyone’s mind. I would never judge that. I believe bad decisions were made.'
2) 'There was triggered activism going on that day by a minority of staff.'
From Gaines interview with the Tennessean -
1) Gaines did not know if the noise was intentional.
2) Gaines also became upset with some – not all – library staff during filming because of noise that she believed was excessive and intentional.
“It’s not an accurate representation of Hendersonville , Gallatin or Sumner County,” Gaines, a resident of Sumner County said. “I hate that it resulted in termination. I don’t know if it was politically driven. There were bomb threats (reported), a lot of things going on (leading up to the event). I don’t know if it is an accurate representation of him.”
IMO, it seems that a miscommunication between the staff and the 'guests' was twisted into a narrative that has still not been fact-checked, and is based on hearsay. Its possible that this miscommunication resulted in both sides not fully understanding their expectations or restrictions ! Owing to the request being made before the event opening - Cameron et al had an expectation that by filming near the front desk, before the library opened, that there would be an expectation of pin-drop silence; the staff did not know what was expected of them. Its that simple as far as the problem ! It was blown into a narrative of staff attacks against the event and 'guests', conservatism, Christians, etc, and then got even worse, when local officials interjected on the side of their 'guests' rather than their own library staff - whose political and religious leanings are not know, and who are Hendersonville residents !!
(edited)
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