KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Over the weekend, a flyer was shared online that raised questions among people. It said two Knox County leaders, Knox County Sheriff Tom Spangler and Mayor Glenn Jacobs, would attend a "town hall meeting" held on private property.
"This meeting is for preparedness minded people with concerns and questions about possible events in Knox County or even in our own neighborhoos [sic] due to social chaos or economic and/or political disruptions," the flyer said.
It was set to be held in far-west Knox County, near The Cove at Concord Park on Aug. 20 at 9:30 a.m. A spokesperson for Spangler and Jacobs responded to WBIR's request for a response but did not specify if they planned to attend. The statement is below.
"Both the Sheriff and the Mayor were invited to this 'Town Hall' meeting to speak."
The address of the planned "town hall meeting" is within a gated community on a private residence. In the flyer, organizers said that it would be in a detached "party barn" and people should bring their own lawn chairs and drinks. Normally, town hall meetings are held in public spaces and the community is notified about them in advance.
WBIR reached out to ask if Mayor Jacobs and Sheriff Spangler planned to attend the meeting. As of Monday evening, there was no response to the second request.
The flyer also caught the attention of state lawmaker Gloria Johnson (D - Knoxville). She posted about it on Twitter, while also sharing a post saying Jacobs has a history of donating to the Oath Keepers far-right group. That group was involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
However, reports said that he contributed to it in 2013, before the extremist group was connected to Jan. 6. Jacobs previously said that he donated to the group in 2013 for its Second Amendment views.
Johnson also said that the event was connected to a group called the "Founders Alliance." Over the weekend, images shared on social media showed that the group's website featured several misleading articles that claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax and shared several articles echoing former-President Donald Trump's lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
As of Monday, it appeared users needed an account to access the website.
