Bombing aftermath on Christmas Day
City officials are pivoting to cleanup and recovery of Second Avenue and the surrounding area even as questions persist about the Christmas Day bombing that caused extensive damage there.
Metro Water Services and contractor Ace Pipe Cleaning on Monday began inspecting 12,000 feet of sewer infrastructure, some of it made from clay more than a century ago and feared damaged by the blast. The technicians will use video footage from the pipes to assess potential damage to the sewer infrastructure between Union Street and Broadway from Fourth Avenue North to the Cumberland River.
Federal authorities returned control of the blast site to Metro Nashville last week, and Metro Police Chief John Drake said the city is working on shrinking the area downtown that remains closed, but that it could take time. Law enforcement officials say a Nashville man named Anthony Warner carried out the bombing and died in the blast.
“As we go from response to recovery, this is going to take a long time,” Drake told the Rotary Club of Nashville on Monday. “We’re in the middle of recovery, and it’s going to take years to come. … We feel Second Avenue is going to be shut down for some time to come.”
Mayor John Cooper pledged in an update with Metro Councilmembers Monday that “we will rebuild this historic part of Nashville,” even as some structures will be demolished. Cooper said there is “still some assessment left to do” but the city would work with experts from other cities that have faced similar damage before rebuilding.
Though Gov. Bill Lee requested federal assistance in the form of an emergency declaration on Christmas Day, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is still considering whether to grant it, Fox 17 reported Monday.
But Drake said federal authorities had already made a different determination about the explosion: that it was not terrorism. Drake said the determination was made because the bombing “may not have been politically motivated.” Insurance policies have largely stopped covering damage caused by terrorism since the 9/11 attacks. (FBI representatives told WPLN they were still working on determining a motive.)
Though Drake and Cooper on Monday emphasized the pivot to rebuilding and recovery, Metro Councilmembers still had questions about the events that led up to the bombing, especially the MNPD’s past encounters with the alleged bomber. Councilmember Delishia Porterfield asked why Metro police couldn’t search Warner’s property after receiving a tip about bomb-making in 2019 when officers the next year searched a Black family’s house based on faulty information related to a drug case.
Drake called the latter search illegal and said additional discipline for involved officers could be forthcoming. He also reiterated his explanation about the department’s past interactions with Warner: Even though they had the tip, they did not have probable cause to search his house or vehicle, he said.
“Whether the person is Black or white, lives in a poor area or an affluent area, they still have an expectation of privacy,” Drake said.
