The explosion that rocked Nashville on Christmas day has become a complex story that is raising more questions and yielding few answers this weekend.
An RV was parked in the early hours at 2nd Avenue North in Nashville, it broadcast several warnings for at least fifteen minutes before exploding. The damage was extensive to nearby buildings including an AT&T Central Office filled with network and telephone exchange equipment. Three civilians and two police officers were injured.
Police in Nashville responded to a call of shots-fired to find the RV broadcasting that a bomb would explode.
“Police responded early Friday to a report of shots fired but instead came across an RV blaring a message that a bomb would explode in 15 minutes, the Associated Press reports. Nearby buildings were evacuated, and the bomb squad was called in to respond. The RV exploded not long thereafter, Chief John Drake said.”
Chief Drake later indicated that there were “no fatalities we know of,” but told reporters that investigators were examining “tissue that we believe could be human remains.” found in the area of the blast.
An Attack on Our Infrastructure?
According to Reuters,
“Damage to AT&T facilities from the explosion caused widespread disruptions of telephone, internet and fiber optic TV service in central Tennessee and parts of several neighboring states, including Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, the company said.”
The Tennessean reported that “A handful of local police departments reported the outage was disrupting 911 access, including some non-emergency lines, in their jurisdictions,” The FAA also halted all flights out of Nashville International Airport due to “telecommunications issues” according to ToddStarnes.com.
✈️ TRAVEL ALERT: Due to telecommunications issues associated with this morning’s incident in downtown Nashville, FAA has temporarily halted flights out of BNA. We expect the issues to be resolved & anticipate service to resume by 3 pm CT. An update will be provided by 3:30 pm CT.
— Fly Nashville (@Fly_Nashville) December 25, 2020
This attack bears many hallmarks familiar with IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the War on Terror and before that “The Troubles” which plagued Ireland for decades. The audible warnings before hand, the tip-off of the Police to a “shots-fired” call which allowed time for the heroic officers Hosey, Luellen, Sipos, Topping and Sgt. Miller of the MNPD to evacuate residents from their homes all would seem to indicate an attack on property and structures not people.
This is not said to ascribe any nobility to the act or any leniency to it but to establish the possible motive. It is early to say and the investigation must take it’s course and answer the many questions raised. However, it would seem this attack may have been intended to send a message. There are many questions and few answers, but one thing is certain: this was an intentional attack, a car-bombing, an IED in America, not Dublin, not Iraq or Kabul and on Christmas day. The Civil Unrest many of us have cautioned was approaching, seems to have arrived.
