Hate in a Hallmark Town: The Story of the Challenge Facing Main Street America
In these early installments of Hate Comes to Main Street, I am sharing how this journey began for me. I hope you will find this publication to be part of an important conversation.
“Franklin, Tennessee, has been called America’s favorite Main Street. One stroll along the tree-lined walkways of this charming Southern town and you may agree.” — HGTV
“You'll find Franklin, one of the state's most charming small towns, south of Nashville. It has a great downtown area surrounding a tree-lined Main Street, which is home to antiques shops, galleries, and restaurants.” — Southern Living
“[T]his charming small town in Tennessee combines old-fashioned charm, timeless architecture, and genuine warmth in a way that feels almost cinematic.” — AOL.com
Those quotes perfectly capture how I had come to view Franklin, Tennessee—an affluent community in one of the wealthiest counties in America with a historic downtown that epitomizes Main Street America.
The Hallmark film “The Bridge” and its sequel were set in Franklin (although they were filmed in Canada), and other Hallmark-style films have used the town’s picturesque 19th-century storefronts as a backdrop.
Located about 20 minutes south of Nashville, I had often imagined that I might one day like to live in the heart of that slice of Americana.
That was until the fall of 2023 when I encountered Gabrielle Hanson, a MAGA candidate for mayor who would reveal the community’s darker side. Before it was over, I would come to see the growing connections between white supremacy, Christian nationalism and QAnon conspiracy theories.
A 58-year-old real estate agent with a blonde bob, Hanson was an investigative reporter’s dream.
She posted photos on social media falsely claiming that a group of women were supporters, a claim that many denied.
She had a criminal history she had tried to hide of promoting prostitution, although she would claim to have been an innocent victim.
While opposing LGBTQ events in Franklin, she had cheered on her husband parading around in nothing but an American flag Speedo during a Pride event in Chicago as part of his unsuccessful campaign for Congress.
And she had falsely claimed to have warned police in advance about a premonition she had experienced—”a Holy Spirit thing,” she called it—about a deadly shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School in March 2023.
Neo-Nazis back MAGA candidate
Then, a group of neo-Nazis showed up to provide security for Hanson at a candidate forum in the heart of Franklin’s historic district.
When I arrived at City Hall, I quickly recognized the shady characters because one of the organizers—a former Proud Boy—had once threatened to kill me. (That’s a story for another day—or maybe a book.)
While Hanson initially attempted to distance herself from the neo-Nazis, the MAGA candidate shared their social media posts, accusing her opponent (and me) of being "connected to Antifa" and warning "there is no political solution."
That notion of there being “no political solution” is generally seen in white supremacist circles as being a nod to the eventual need for political violence.
Soon, the neo-Nazis were attempting to intimidate me and anyone else in Franklin whom they viewed to be their enemies.
An anonymous Telegram account menacingly announced their demands for what I should report about the hate group. “This is our only Warning,” the post declared. It ended, “Always Watching, Always Listening, Always Near.”
Still, while denying any racist sympathies, the powerful Williamson County Republican Party refused to condemn Hanson or her associations.
‘It Can’t Happen Here’
In some ways, Franklin reminded me of Sinclair Lewis’s description of the fictional Fort Beulah, Vermont, in It Can’t Happen Here. The 1935 novel provided a cautionary tale about the potential rise of fascism in America.
Lewis described Fort Beulah as “a town of security and tradition, which still believed in Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and to which May Day was not an ancient European festival of the Devil but a time of maiden adoration of floral priesthood.”
Such descriptions might have been equally fitting for Franklin.
Which is what made the appearances of neo-Nazis at a candidate forum so shocking. Something had changed in America if a hate group felt emboldened to interject themselves into a race for mayor in such an affluent community—which is why I dubbed my initial efforts as “Hate Comes to Main Street.”
If it could happen here, it occurred to me, it could happen anywhere.
That was the realization that was what launched me on my journey into the world of hate.
Christian nationalists continue to back Hanson
Hanson’s colleagues of the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen quickly rebuked her.
But amid what quickly became a major scandal over the hate group’s connection to her campaign, local Christian nationalists stood with Hanson—because she represented their best chance of gaining power.
Until I encountered Gabrielle Hanson, I have to admit, I had barely paid attention to the rise of Christian nationalism in America. In fact, I tended to dismiss such concerns as being the result of overwrought progressive fears.
I now know better.
QAnon comes to Main Street
Eventually, Franklin, Tennessee, would also open my eyes into how unhinged QAnon conspiracy theories had also infected the life of Main Street America.
Experts will tell you that QAnon, at its heart, is rooted in the ancient antisemitic blood libel that falsely claimed that Jews kidnapped and killed Christian children for their blood. In its modern context, QAnon adherents believe that political elites target innocent children in order to extract the “adrenochrome” from their blood to sustain their own lives. The powerful forces behind those plots are often characterized as “cabals” or “the Deep State.”
Studies have shown that white evangelicals are more likely than most to subscribe to such conspiracy theories. (More on that in a future post.)
In Gabrielle Hanson’s case, she would ultimately claim that my investigation was triggered by the realization that she knew too much about a money laundering and child trafficking network involving some powerful individuals.
“And it was like, stop short of killing this girl. We have to shut her up and destroy her,” Hanson would claim.
In her mind, it was all one grand conspiracy. (Watch my story below.)
Here’s why this is important!
In the end, Franklin voters turned out to the polls in record numbers, rejecting Hanson’s candidacy by a four-to-one margin.
Examined another way: One out of every five Franklin voters made it clear they were fine with a Nazi-aligned candidate representing them as mayor.
Among those celebrating the results of the mayoral election were the neo-Nazis who had tried to help Hanson get elected. A Telegram account operating under the name “Patriot Youth” summed up the fallout this way:
“What they think we learned (oh no we lost shitty mayoral election). What we actually learned (holy shit we got 20% of the vote?) LETS FUCKING GOOOOO)”
That’s why this conversation is so incredibly important!
Thank you for joining me on this next phase of my journey. Please tell me how this publication can be helpful to you personally and to our country. Please share my posts with your friends and, of course, please subscribe!
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