Image Credit: Tennessee Conservative News -Twitter/X – @TnCoNews1
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
A group of counter-protestors or “agitators” made their presence known during The Tennessee Conservative’s Protect Tennessee’s Borders Rally last week. This resulted in broken glass and at least two volunteers being shoved to the ground.
On Wednesday, March 20th, over 200 Conservative Tennesseans showed up to the State Capitol in support of GOP lawmakers taking action on the illegal immigration crisis in Tennessee.
However, there was a group of around 10 individuals who showed up to counter-protest with signs saying things like “JESUS WAS AN IMMIGRANT,” “NO HATE NO FEAR IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE,” and “PEOPLE ARE NOT ILLEGAL.”
One woman in particular stood out to rally attendees as the individual who only a few minutes into Brandon Lewis’ opening statements, made her way into the crowd to seemingly provoke supporters of the rally.
According to witnesses, this “woman in orange” knocked two rally volunteers to the ground as she flipped over an event table which resulted in a glass container being shattered across the Capitol steps.
A male counter-protestor and a male counter-protest photographer can be seen on video standing on the opposite side of the table at the same time.
“Witnesses say White leftist mowed down information table at Protect Tennessee’s Borders event and nearly assaulted Black woman peacefully protesting against illegal immigration,” Jonathan Choe wrote on X.
The “agitator” in question left the rally following the involvement of state troopers and has since been identified as Kristen Guerrero who posted to her social media after the rally saying, “Being on the right side of history is hard. Today I was physically pushed, blocked, and threatened, this didn’t happen to just me but to others that were in my group too.”
“Being the super extreme minority at todays protest was scary,” she continued. “We stood tall for what was right even if our voices shook.”
According to Guerrero’s social media, she may actually be of Mexican heritage. She also works as a perioperative blood management technician and is allegedly employed by Vanderbilt, the same medical center that was performing “gender affirming” sex change surgeries on minors without any repercussions until GOP lawmakers finally passed a ban on these surgeries for minors just last year.
Guerrero has previously garnered attention from news media outlets for participating in pro-gun control protests at the Tennessee Capitol.
She and some of the counter-protest photographers have been associated with Democrat Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson.
Guerrero has also worked with groups like Protect Kids Not Guns and Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood.
Prior to the Protect Tennessee’s Border Rally, Guerrero and company also showed up to a Moms for Liberty Legislative Day event which took place inside the Capitol building. According to our source, these individuals “refused to leave until we opted to call security,” showing up to the illegal immigration rally a short time later.
Wilson County Chapter Chair of Moms for Liberty, Amanda Price, attended both events and after hearing glass shatter at the rally she began recording and relocated to the top of the steps where other counter-protestors were gathered.
“They had friends with cameras in everyone’s faces as they practiced mid-level violence techniques,” said Price. “When I heard the sound of glass breaking, I decided we needed as many camera angles as possible.”
She went on to note the multiple photographers following the group of counter-protestors “poised and ready to capture every raw reaction to their deliberate provocations.”
Price stated she was recording simply to mitigate the actions of these counter-protestors by offering a second vantagepoint of their behavior. She did not engage with the counter-protestors, despite one individual’s attempt to provoke her.
“Having an ally to capture the mid-level violence on camera should mitigate the intended result,” Price said. “They won’t be able to provoke and blame those attending the rally because now there is evidence on both sides of the story.”
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee.
You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.