A Tennessee county mayor has taken to Facebook to tell “native americans crying about Mount Rushmore” to “shut up” and say he would never place the “absurd requirement of wearing masks” on citizens.
Stewart County Mayor Robin Brandon’s personal Facebook is the source of several controversial posts. Last week, Brandon addressed Native Americans and said they should “better educate their children.” He said Stewart County families were forced from Land Between the Lakes in the past and is “saddened that the Federal government took that billion dollar, at one time, tax available property from us.” In the 1960s, the Tennessee Valley Authority seized some 170,000 acres at Land Between the Lakes for a recreation project.
“Lori still talks of how her mother would take their family to Tharpe, every year and 10 years after they were forced to leave, to try to gather back some of the plants and the flowers their ancestors had planted,” Brandon said.
Brandon said if any land is ever returned from the federal government, it will be to Stewart County. He said he is looking for ways to reclaim the land.
President Donald Trump celebrated Independence Day at Mount Rushmore this year. Protestors were also on the scene in a protest organized by Native Americans upset with the president and his administration.
In an interview with NPR, the president of Native American activist group NDN Collective Nick Tilsen said they call Mount Rushmore the “Shrine of Hypocrisy” rather than the “Shrine of Democracy” because “this democracy that is talked about has been built on the stolen lands of Indigenous people."
Let's see if we can put into context, for Stewart County, some recent current events. To the Native Americans crying... Posted by Robin Brandon on Tuesday, July 7, 2020
In another post on July 7, Brandon claimed that mask requirements were not constitutional.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on July 3 signed an executive order allowing local governments to mandate masks in the fight against coronavirus. The order is in effect through Aug. 3.
Brandon said if he were to go all “communistic and Marxist (like those idiots in BLM)” he would consider asking the sheriff to place roadblocks at the county line to stop all non-Stewart County license plates from entering.
“How’s that for a real taste of power over reach?” Brandon wrote.
I would NEVER place an absurd requirement of wearing masks on our citizens. First of all, it's not constitutional.... Posted by Robin Brandon on Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Last month, Black Lives Matter protesters established a protest zone in a Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP, included roughly six blocks surrounded by street barricades. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced the return of police to the area after three people were shot in the zone.
In later posts, Brandon said he is tired of “liberal lunacy” and is going on the offensive against it. He also said people who have “ignorantly made false racism charges against innocent people” have a much deeper agenda and are socialists.
In case some people might not have noticed, I've had enough of the liberal lunacy in our world and I've gone on offense... Posted by Robin Brandon on Wednesday, July 8, 2020
After nearly four years of being falsely accused of being a racist, xenophobic, homophobe, most people would finally... Posted by Robin Brandon on Thursday, July 9, 2020
WKMS has reached out to Robin Brandon for comment and has not received a response.
