Nashville council member says if bomber was 'a person of color' or had 'drugs involved' he would have been investigated
Bob Mendes, an at-large council member in Nashville joined Erin Burnett OutFront Wednesday where he addressed the news that Nashville police were warned about suspected bomber Anthony Quinn Warner in August of last year. Warner’s girlfriend at the time, Pamela Perry, warned police that he was building bombs in an RV on his property, but when they arrived, there was no answer when they knocked. An officer with the explosives unit made more attempts to contact Warner but to no avail. Supervisors were notified of the incident, but the police were unable to obtain enough evidence to justify a search warrant and a full investigation never occurred. Mendes believes that under different circumstances, Warner would have been investigated.
“This has to be graded a loss by law enforcement. They had all the pertinent information 16 months ago, and somehow it slipped through the cracks,” Mendes said, later adding, “They didn’t get to the finish line. And we know that locally, if it were a person of color or if it had been maybe drugs involved, meth instead of bomb-making, it almost certainly would have been investigated. They never tried to get a warrant, and locally, we’re gonna want to know why that is.”
Video Transcript
BOB MENDES: This has to be graded a loss by law enforcement that had all the pertinent information 16 months ago and, somehow, it slipped through the cracks.
REPORTER: At-large council member for Nashville, Bob Mendes, appeared on "Erin Burnett OutFront" Wednesday night, where he addressed the fact that Nashville police were warned about suspected Christmas Day bomber Anthony Warner in August of last year. Officers failed to make contact with Warner, and the matter was never fully investigated. Mendes believes Warner would have been further pursued under different circumstances.
BOB MENDES: They didn't get to the finish line. And we know that, locally, if it were a person of color, or if it had been, maybe, drugs involved-- meth instead of bomb-making-- it almost certainly would have been investigated.
REPORTER: On Wednesday afternoon, Nashville chief of police John Drake defended the actions of his officers. But Mendes says he left too much unanswered.
BOB MENDES: The chief of police didn't have answers today for even whether this complaint had been cleared or just got lost on somebody's desk. I don't think we have enough answers right now.
