Nashville mayor faces scrutiny after releasing ICE information, federal agents' names

Following this story being aired, the mayor’s office stated that any names mistakenly included in the information posted online have been removed.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) -- FOX 17 News discovered Nashville's Mayor, Freddie O'Connell, has made information on the ICE interactions with emergency services departments like MNPD public, which includes federal immigration authorities' names.

This as a Tennessee congressman calls for two federal committees to investigate Nashville's mayor “aiding and abetting illegal immigration.”

Mayor O'Connell said the information released to the public is for transparency.

Congressman Andy Ogles said it’s putting federal agents in danger.

Mayor O’Connell is under the microscope following his actions during the mid-state crackdown on illegal immigrants by ICE and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

Congressman Andy Ogles said the mayor is interfering with justice, listing several concerns.

He said the biggest is releasing the information of the names of federal immigration officials. We discovered some locations of their encounters with emergency services departments like MNPD were also posted.

“He can have his woke righteousness, but when somebody gets hurt because he's putting ICE names and locations out on the internet, there could be criminal and civil penalties that ensue,” said Ogles.

It’s all a part of O’Connell’s amended Executive Order 30.

It’s posted publicly on the Office of New Americans website.

The mayor’s spokesperson said in a statement:

“The sole purpose of that part of EO30 is transparency. That EO dates back to the Cooper administration.”

But the interactions listed started in July 2024, ten months after previous Mayor John Cooper left office.

The mayor’s office claims that’s because there were no reported interactions with ICE from January to July 2024. Mayor O'Connell was sworn into office September 2023.

FOX 17 News is working to confirm the lack of reported interactions with local emergency departments.

Mayor Cooper’s original order allowed 3 days to report immigration communications.

Mayor O’Connell’s version requires one business day for emergency departments, speeding things up.

Earlier this month, we asked Mayor O’Connell if he intends to tip off migrants with the data.

“That’s not the intention,” said Mayor O’Connell.”The intended point was for us to have some awareness. What happened recently is more of a techinical update.”

Congressman Ogles said the mayor is wrong to publicly put the data out.

“He's putting federal law enforcement and local law enforcement in harm's way,” said Ogles.

This adds to his call for the U.S. Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees to investigate the Mayor’s actions. He says there is a new development expected this week on the Mayor’s investigation.

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