FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — The often-bizarre race for Franklin mayor took a disturbing new turn this week as white supremacists made a show of force for Gabrielle Hanson.
That group, which calls itself the Tennessee Active Club, showed up Monday night at a forum hosted for candidates for mayor and alderman in Franklin, escorting Hanson and her husband into the event.
"This is a group that openly is anti-Semitic," said Jeff Tischauser, senior researcher for the Southern Poverty Law Center. "They are racist, full of racist, bigoted white supremacists. Online, they are worshiping Hitler."
The unprecedented showing by the group came as voters in Franklin, a city that prides itself on its small-town charm, packed City Hall to hear from the candidates who want to run the town for the next four years.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates first encountered a group of young white men — a couple of them wearing masks to hide their identity — at the main entrance of the municipal building and approached them to determine their purpose
"Someone said you were here making a statement. I don't know what that statement is," we told them.
"No, we're not making a statement. We're here for Gabrielle Hanson," one of the men answered.
They explained they were there to protect the candidate who has made fighting LGBTQ Pride events a focus of her campaign for mayor.
"We're just making sure everything goes well," a masked man said.
We followed up, "Are you concerned about things not going well?"
"It's a possibility, and we're just here to protect Gabrielle," he insisted.
Inside City Hall, we approached two other men staking out a hallway.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates said, "I hear y'all are here for Gabrielle."
"Yes, sir," they answered in unison.
We continued, "So what's the purpose?"
"We're just here to show her some support, that's all."
One of the men identified himself as Sean Kauffmann, who has been described by the Stop Antisemitism watchdog group as "a disturbed neo-Nazi and Holocaust denier with a documented history of violence and a massive cache of firearms."
A video posted online shows Kauffmann and other extremists earlier this year outside a non-profit group's drag show fundraiser in Cookeville.
Kauffmann can be seen giving a Nazi salute. (Click below to watch the video.)
He also showed up at a Chattanooga drag show last year with other extremists.
In 2020, Kauffmann was arrested for disorderly conduct at a Black Lives Matter protest.
Then, there's Brad Lewis.
"Gabrielle's a friend of mine, and she's had some credible threats against her. So I'm just posted up out here," Lewis told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
Lewis is the owner of the Lewis Country Store on the far west side of Nashville, a store known for the extreme right-wing messaging on its sign.
When the store recently went on the market, Gabrielle Hanson was the real estate agent who got the listing.
A recent investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed how the second floor of the store was being used as a "white nationalist fight club" by the Tennessee Active Club.
Lewis responded in a post on Telegram, calling himself "an actual literal Nazi."
NewsChannel 5 Investigates tried to prompt Lewis, "I forget the name of the group that got so much publicity a few months ago, the Tennessee..."
"Tennessee Active Club," Lewis answered.
"That's us," another man said.
The Tennessee Active Club aims to prepare White men for what it sees as a coming war within American society.
In fact, when Gabrielle Hanson's husband arrived at the forum, Brad Lewis and another man were at his side.
Hanson and a hired security guy with no connection to the Active Club were joined by Sean Kauffmann, the Nazi-saluting figure who apparently heads the Tennessee Active Club.
That's when NewsChannel 5 Investigates decided to approach Ms. Hanson to ask about her associations.
"Ms. Hanson, the people you are with have described themselves as 'literal Nazis.' Is this the type of people you should be associating with? They have said they are 'literal Nazis.'" NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked.
At that point, a couple of her supporters began to block NewsChannel 5's attempt to ask the candidate about the white supremacists.
"It's concerning," Tischauser said, "because we have a very violent anti-Semitic racist group coming into 'mainstream' political space by the invitation of the candidate, and it's just another example of how violence is becoming mainstreamed."
When her turn came to speak, Hanson made no reference to the spectacle that had so many voters and current elected officials concerned.
"It saddens me a lot to see the outside influences come here as if we need it or as if we want it," said Alderman Brandy Blanton.
We followed up, "Did you ever think Franklin would come to this?"
"No, sir, I didn't," Blanton said. "I've lived here since I was 10 years old."
As for the woman who wants to be Franklin's next mayor, we tried to get a response as she left the forum.
"Ms. Hanson, how does it look having white supremacists here providing you security? No comment about that whatsoever?"
She refused to repudiate the white supremacists who say they stand with her and her beliefs.
"Why would you have someone providing security who describes himself as a literal Nazi?"
Again, there was no answer.
It's a silence that may speak volumes.
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