A former Tennessee police officer will avoid a jail sentence after he made a plea deal regarding an incident involving his appearance in an X-rated video.
As Blaze News reported in May 2024, the Metro Nashville Police Department was notified that one of the department's officers allegedly appeared in an OnlyFans video titled: "Can't believe he didn't arrest me."
'That was one of the most outrageous, disrespectful acts that a person here could do ...'
The video — posted on the adult-oriented subscription online platform — reportedly shows a police officer pulling a woman over. The officer's police cruiser is seen in the sexual video.
During the fake traffic stop, the cop identifies himself as "Officer Johnson."
The woman in the video allegedly pulls down her top to expose her breasts and offers that the officer may touch her.
WTVF-TV reported that the OnlyFans model offered for the "officer to grope her breasts, which he does while she is seen grabbing his crotch."
In the video, the officer appears to have a Metro Nashville Police Department patch on the shoulder of his uniform.
Investigators determined that the cop in the X-rated video was 35-year-old Sean Herman, an officer with the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Nashville police said in June 2024, "Specialized Investigations Division detectives discovered the video and identified him as the person in an MNPD uniform, seen in the video from the chest down, who took part in a mock traffic stop in an OnlyFans skit during which he groped the exposed breast of the female driver."
Investigators determined that the video was filmed in a warehouse parking lot on April 26, 2024, while Herman was "on duty as a patrol officer in the Madison Precinct."
Herman was fired from the department on May 9, 2024. He had been employed with the Metro Nashville Police Department for three years.
"That was one of the most outrageous, disrespectful acts that a person here could do, and by disrespectful, I mean to all the MNPD employees and this agency," Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron told WTVF in May 2024.
In June 2024, Herman was arrested and charged with two counts of official misconduct. He was later released on a $3,000 bond.
On Thursday, Herman avoided a jail sentence by entering a "best interest" plea in Nashville criminal court for a felony count of official misconduct, according to the Associated Press.
"The best interest plea means that a defendant pleads guilty while maintaining factual innocence of the crime," according to the AP.
The second count of official misconduct was dropped, and Herman was sentenced to one year of supervised probation.
CBS News reported, "Additionally, he was granted judicial diversion, which means that certain eligible defendants who successfully finish probation under the judge's conditions will have their cases dismissed. They can also then request that charges be expunged from their record."
The AP added that a state board indefinitely suspended Herman's law enforcement officer certification, although he could petition for reinstatement following closure of the criminal case.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The Tennessee Titans’ new stadium — the Nissan Stadium, a fully enclosed dome designed to seat 60,000 people — was well underway when the $2.1 billion project was suddenly halted after a noose was discovered on the construction site on July 17.
The Tennessee Builders Alliance condemned the prop as a "racist and hateful symbol" and suspended work pending an investigation involving Metro Nashville Police. It also implemented mandatory anti-bias training for workers, provided counseling services, and offered a $250,000 reward for information identifying the culprit. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell (D) called the incident "very concerning.”
“When are they going to learn? These are almost never real,” scoffs Pat Gray, BlazeTV host of “Pat Gray Unleashed.”
But even if the noose was a racially motivated stunt, it’s not enough to “shut down a $2 billion project,” says co-host Jeffy, pointing out that the majority of construction workers involved in the project probably didn’t even see the noose at all.
“We’ve become a nation of babies,” says Pat, arguing that the solution is simple: “Pull it down, throw it away, move on.”
Given that the majority of these stunts turn out to be attention-seeking hoaxes, Pat assumes that the culprit is likely reveling right now in the frenzy his little spectacle is causing. Giving this type of incident so much attention, he says, is counterproductive in that it only “[hypes] up the division between us.”
Per usual, the media certainly isn’t helping.
“All the news stations are covering it like it's this horrific crime,” says Jeffy.
“Not one of them even brings up the possibility that it's a hoax,” adds Pat.
Sadly, the media narrative that emerges will almost certainly be: This is a result of living in “Trump’s America.”
To hear more of the panel’s commentary, watch the video above.
To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Tennesseans still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Helene will have to pay state property taxes unless lawmakers move to provide some relief.
State residents and their political leaders have been discussing the issue of property taxes for months, ever since Hurricane Helene devastated the region back in late September.
A few weeks after the storm, the IRS stepped in and postponed the deadline for filing or paying certain taxes until May 1, 2025, at least for beleaguered property and/or business owners in Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, and Washington Counties.
"Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Sept. 26, 2024, and before Oct. 11, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by Oct. 11, 2024," said the IRS press release issued November 7.
Leaders in Nashville have yet to officially adjust, suspend, or extend deadlines for property taxes at the state level, though at least one bill is in the works.
Republican state Rep. Tim Hicks has backed a measure that would provide tremendous relief for affected residents. If the measure becomes law, "any home or any family that was affected by the flood will be exempt from paying property taxes for the year 2024, and they won't get taxed again for those property taxes until their property is made whole again," Hicks explained, according to WCYB.
The same tax exemptions would go into effect in the case of future disasters as well.
"I would think that all legislators across the state will be on board with that," Hicks said.
'It would mean a heck of a lot. A heck of a lot.'
Hicks told WCYB that legislators, already scheduled to meet next month, intend to call a special session to vote on that and other Helene-related bills before the deadline for filing property taxes comes along in February.
"We’re trying to get all the relief efforts up here that we can."
For months, state officials have expressed concerns about the plight of storm victims in Tennessee. Back in November, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower told WJHL that "the legislature and Gov. [Bill] Lee have a strong desire to help the property owners affected."
However, just what that "help" should look like has not yet been determined.
Some officials noted, for example, that the affected properties — most of which are located in Northeastern Tennessee — enjoyed normal value for about three-quarters of 2024 and that some owners have already paid their taxes in full. Thus, tax relief may come in the form of proration or retrospectively awarded grants, among other possibilities.
"The key to helping them is knowing exactly how much damage has occurred, what the extent of the damage [is] people have suffered to their homes, to their businesses. So we have been working with assessors since the storm occurred," Mumpower said.
"We want to be sure by the time the legislature returns in January that they have a firm understanding of the dollar amount, of the extent of the damage people have suffered so that they can provide the best assistance," he added.
For residents like David Harris and his wife, who have been living in a camper on their property in the Nolichucky River Valley between Knoxville and Winston-Salem ever since Helene wiped out their home, that relief can't come soon enough.
"It means a lot because when you lose everything, you got to replace stuff," David Harris told WCYB, "and we're retired with not such a great salary. It would mean a heck of a lot. A heck of a lot."
"We don't want to think about property taxes right now."
H/T: Matt Van Swol
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has infiltrated every major city in Tennessee, according to state officials.
TDA has been tied to criminal activity across the United States, including apartment takeovers in Aurora, Colorado, and violent crimes in New York City and Dallas, Texas. Thus far, the gang has primarily, but not exclusively, focused on expanding its presence in sanctuary jurisdictions, where local law enforcement agencies are forbidden to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
'They will not hesitate to attack their opponents in public and in broad daylight.'
During a budget meeting this week, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director David Rausch warned Governor Bill Lee (R) that TDA has recently become a growing threat in the state.
According to Rausch, the gang started to appear in Tennessee two years ago, but its influence has substantially expanded over the past few months. He noted that TDA is active in Memphis and Nashville.
"We first saw them a couple years ago where we uncovered a group here in a human trafficking operation," Rausch explained. "We recognized a number of the members here trafficking females that they had abducted from Venezuela and brought them here."
The bureau successfully captured several individuals involved in the illicit operation, but "many of them fled" out of Tennessee, Rausch said.
"Now what we are seeing is they are back. They are back in all of our major cities," he declared.
When TDA arrives in a new area, it starts by running trafficking operations, then expands into other criminal activities, including organized retail theft and drug trafficking, Rausch told Lee.
He expressed concerns about TDA's brazenness and its targeting of cartel members.
"They will, and they have taken on the cartel head-on, and they're very violent in their efforts," Rausch continued. "They will not hesitate to attack their opponents in public and in broad daylight."
"Recently, there was a video that they shot where they shot an individual, a cartel member, 31 times. Broad daylight, on video, and posted it to social media," he stated.
Rausch did not share how many TDA gang members he believes are in the state but noted that "they're in numbers here."
According to Straight Arrow News, the Knoxville Police Department is unaware of any TDA activity in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly identified more than 600 individuals in the U.S. with ties to TDA, Blaze News previously reported. The federal government has confirmed the gang's activity in at least 15 states, and it may have expanded to another eight.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Pastor Ray Ortlund of Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee, caught hell over the weekend for endorsing Kamala Harris. After trying to defend the statement, the Renewal Ministries president ultimately took down the social media post with the endorsement, claiming it had been "misinterpreted."
"Never Trump. This time Harris. Always Jesus," Ortlund wrote on Threads.
Self-identified conservative David French of the New York Times — who recently did his best to characterize a vote for Harris as the way to "save conservatism" — responded to Ortlund, "This is the way."
Other Christians were less understanding and quickly piled on.
William Wolfe, founder and executive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership, wrote that Ortlund, Russell Moore's pastor, is the "quintessential 'Big Eva' pastor [a]nd now he's using the name of Christ to endorse a pro-abortion, pro-trans communist."
Extra to supporting taxpayer-funded sex changes for illegal aliens, Harris has committed to codifying abortion as a federal right and has personally targeted a pro-life activist for exposing the trafficking of butchered babies' remains.
'The Democratic platform and the Bible cannot co-exist without one subverting the other.'
Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers (R) noted that Ortlund endorsed a ticket that supports "kidnapping the children of parents who oppose child genital mutilation[;] Tampons in boys' bathrooms[;] Child murder up to birth and beyond[;] Covid snitch lines[;] Communism[;] And much more."
Some critics shared a video of Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, announcing protections for those who would subject minors to sex-change mutilations — something President Donald Trump has vowed to criminalize.
"If you claim to be an evangelical but plan to back the most liberal Senator and the most progressive platform in U.S. history — both of which blatantly contradict fundamental biblical principles of creation order and justice — then you have no right to lecture others about sticking to principles and voting with integrity," wrote Andrew T. Walker, associate professor of Christian ethics and public theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. "The Democratic platform and the Bible cannot co-exist without one subverting the other."
'My fault.'
Megan Basham, author of "Shepherds for Sale," noted that "it's understandable that some Christians feel they cannot back Trump. It is not understandable to back Harris. Don't confuse Ortlund with principled third party voters or abstainers. This is indefensible."
When asked how he could vote for Harris and Walz, especially in light of their pro-abortion agenda, Ortlund responded, "Abortion is a horrible evil. But the evils on the other side have risen to levels that jeopardize the foundational rule of law in our country. I am thinking long-term and voting for us to have a chance at national renewal in the future."
The pastor's defense prompted more criticism.
"If Pastor Ortlund is truly concerned about not jeopardizing the rule of law in America, one has to wonder where he has been during the past nearly four years," wrote John G. West, vice president of the Discovery Institute.
After alluding to Democratic lawfare, the Biden-Harris administration's encouragement of censorship on social media, prosecutions of peaceful pro-life protesters, and the "refusal to enforce laws already on the books," West noted, "This [is] only a short list of what has been happening. But Ortlund assures us that in order to protect the rule of law we must vote for the same people responsible for these things."
Sunday evening, Ortlund deleted his endorsement, writing, "I have deleted a post from earlier today because it was being misinterpreted. I should have foreseen it. My fault."
When pressed on how it was being interpreted, the pastor suggested that answering that question "could risk reversing [his] decision to delete."
Amidst the backlash, Ortlund was met with numerous comments on Threads thanking him for his Harris endorsement, several of which he signaled appreciation for.
French and Ortlund — both of whom are involved in Redeeming Babel's "After Party" course for churches — are not alone in thinking that voting for Trump is un-Christian.
Blaze News previously reported that Texas state Rep. James Talarico — a pro-abortion Democrat with a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Texas Votes who regards the display of the Ten Commandments in classrooms as "deeply un-Christian" — told MSNBC's Katie Phang Saturday that "too many Christians have forgotten all about Jesus and now worship at the feet of Donald Trump — a business cheat, a pathological liar, a serial adulterer, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist."
"I guess it's hate the sin, elect the sinner. That seems to be the new motto of too many Christians in this country," added Talarico.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
H/T: The Christian Post
Ammunition found in a gun that law enforcement suspects could have been the weapon used to assassinate Charlie Kirk was engraved with anti-fascist ideology and transgender expressions, according to new reports. Steven Crowder shared on X an email his team purportedly received from an officer at the ATF. The email states that “ATF and other […]
Under President Biden, the FBI attempted to keep the transgender murderer's writings under wraps. New pages are out.
The FOIA settlement agreement is a victory for transparency and open government, but it’s personal for this reporter.
As Venezuelan gang soldiers set up shop in Tennessee, a Nashville reporter directs ire at a handful of American families who’ve moved in.
www.theblaze.com