Some downtown Nashville bars apparently found their kitchens short-staffed over the weekend after rumors of ICE raids.
As we reported on Monday, according to Fox 17 Nashville, several restaurants on Broadway in downtown Nashville were forced to either close early or shut down their kitchens over the weekend after reports of ICE raids on Broadway caused employees to walk out or not show up for work.
One manager of an unnamed Broadway restaurant said their kitchen staff “split” after hearing rumors of ICE conducting operations on Broadway:
“It’s just creating this general sense of fear all the time. There were rumors flying around about ICE being on Lower Broadway. It was credible enough that we had to close the restaurant because back-of-house staff had to leave. Everyone split.”
And another restaurant manager said that more than half their staff didn’t show up:
“More than half of our restaurant staff is not attending right now, so we’re currently closed for business.”
The original report didn’t name the restaurants that were affected. But according to an article from the Nashville Scene, those businesses included three businesses owned by outspoken conservative Broadway bar magnate Steve Smith.
The Diner, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock’s bar all reportedly closed their kitchens after rumors of ICE raids, with one employee reporting that their manager instructed anyone “without legal status” to leave so that they didn’t risk getting detained:
“We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend. Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home. Events at the Ryman, Ascend, the Savannah Bananas’ baseball game all let out, and it was crazy busy. But there was no one in the kitchen to cook the food.”
It’s not known whether Smith, a vocal Trump supporter and close friend of Kid Rock, was consulted before the manager made the decision to warn staff about potential raids and close the kitchens.
Along with bars like Kid Rock’s and Honky Tonk Central, Smith also owns the iconic Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Rippy’s Honky Tonk.
Over the past week or so, ICE has been working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol here in Nashville to detain over 100 illegal immigrants, much to the concern of Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell. The mayor has acknowledged that there’s not much the city can do to stop ICE from operating within the city, but spoke out against their actions:
“I wanna be clear. We did not request this approach to safety, we do not support it. It’s important for us to get this right and it’s very frustrating to see a failure in the process.”
Now, there’s no confirmation that I’ve seen that ICE was actually conducting raids on Broadway, but apparently just the rumor that they may have been downtown was enough to spook employees concerned about getting detained or deported.
While Mayor O’Connell wasn’t a fan of the THP conducting raids and assisting ICE with deportations, Congressman Andy Ogles, who represents Nashville in the House of Representatives, spoke out in favor of the ICE operations in Nashville:
“In my opinion, anyone who comes into this country illegally loses any opportunity or chance to become a citizen of this country. It’s a criminal act, and when you look at the recent ICE raids, the Trump administration is doing a fantastic job. You have smugglers, traffickers, individuals with illegal guns.”
It’s hard to say what’s true and what’s not at this point, with everybody panicking and the media losing their mind over ICE and deportations. But ICE pushed back on the mayor’s concerns and defended their operations in Nashville by pointing out that arrests include members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang as well as several convicted criminals:
“During the operation in Tennessee, ICE agents arrested a convicted child sex predator, a member of Tren de Aragua, an individual convicted of aggravated assault, and multiple aliens with drug charges.
The Nashville Mayor should want these criminal illegal aliens off American streets. Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is wrong. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults.
President Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement, the American people voted for it, and DHS is delivering.”
