Tennessee mayor lowers flag, says he ‘grieves for our Republic’ as Biden takes office
The mayor of a small town in Tennessee is facing pushback after he lowered the American flag to half-staff before President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday while expressing concern for the future of the country.
“The Town of Bruceton grieves for our Republic and our loss of freedoms,” Mayor Robert T. Keeton III wrote.
Keeton’s statement was shared on the Town of Bruceton’s official Facebook page and attributed to the mayor. In it, he referred to the coronavirus as the “Chinese plague” and said he was praying “God delivers and restores us and that we do not fall to the clutches of communism.”
As of Wednesday night, the post had been shared close to 400 times and generated more than 1,000 comments.
About 1,300 people live in Bruceton, according to Data USA. The town sits on the eastern edge of Carroll County, which election records show voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump on Nov. 3. But some residents said Keeton’s post isn’t representative of the community.
“This is a flagrant incitement of anger and disunity on a public platform,” one person wrote in response. “The mayor is not The Town of Bruceton. Was this statement approved by the city council? It seems like it is pandering to the worst characteristics of human nature. I expect better of my elected representatives.”
Another resident told the mayor that Bruceton is “not a place for your meanness,” while someone else called his message “one of the most unpatriotic things I have ever seen.”
“As friends and neighbors die from covid and our nation hurts, you use the town page to air your personal grievances?” the person wrote. “This is not the way to promote Bruceton as a nice place to live. Shame on you.”
It wasn’t clear Wednesday if the mayor’s decision to lower the flag was approved by town leaders, and the city clerk did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment after regular business hours.
Still, a few backed the mayor while urging him to stand his ground and praising him for being able to “draw the line in the sand.”
“Most in America now days believes that a man does not have that right to speak freely, but he does,” someone said.
This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 7:00 PM.
