NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — An East Tennessee man with ties to a neo-Nazi group has been arrested in conjunction with a stunt he pulled Monday evening at Nashville's Gordon Jewish Community Center, NewsChannel 5 has learned.
Travis Keith Garland, 31, was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Maryville, Tennessee, on a warrant for criminal trespassing, according to Metro Nashville police. Detectives with the MNPD Specialized Investigations Division later took out an assault warrant for putting a Jewish Community Center security guard in fear as he tried to get Garland off the property.
Garland was returned to Nashville Thursday night and booked into the Downtown Detention Center. Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk personally appeared in night court to ask for a high bond to ensure Garland would not flee.
The magistrate set that bond at $250,000.
According to online chatter reviewed by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, the Blount County man is affiliated with the neo-Nazi Goyim Defense League, the group that spent a couple of weeks on Nashville streets last summer, pushing its crude antisemitic, racist and homophobic messages. One GDL member was arrested during back in July.
Metro police spokesperson Don Aaron said Garland entered the Jewish Community Center on Percy Warner Boulevard about 7:45 p.m. Monday, wearing a fake beard, fake curls and clothing to make him appear as an Orthodox Jew.
He had a cell phone in his hand as if he was recording or streaming the stunt.
"After being immediately stopped by a front desk staff member, Garland, in disguise, asked to speak with a rabbi," Aaron said in a statement.
"When told there was not a rabbi on the property, Garland ignored the front desk staffer and continued past her to a secured door that was ajar due to two members entering that portion of the facility. They blocked Garland from entering.
"At that point, a security guard came to the lobby area and ordered Garland to leave, prompting Garland to continue demanding to speak with a rabbi."
According to the police spokesperson, "the security guard reported Garland started eyeing his pistol, putting him in fear that he might try to take it."
"As the security guard persisted in his commands, Garland ultimately retreated out of the lobby to the parking lot. The security guard escorted Garland to the front gate and away from his car, not knowing what might be inside the vehicle.
"He finally got him off the premises. A West Precinct officer arrived moments later. Garland told the patrol officer that he was taking part in an Internet prank. Garland was unarmed and was allowed to leave the facility after being warned."
Garland is the third member of the Goyim Defense League to be arrested here in the last six months.
Ryan Scott McCann, a neo-Nazi from Canada, was arrested on assault charges back in July as a result of a skirmish between GDL members and a downtown bartender. McCann was caught on video jabbing the bartender with the flagpole of the swastika flag he was carrying.
In September, Texas member David Aaron Bloyed was arrested on federal charges for making an online threat to kill Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk.
He added that detectives assigned to the Security Threat component of the Specialized Investigations Division are continuing to examine Garland's background.
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