Citing Charlie Kirk murder, Tennessee pastor demands removal of 'Hate Has No Home' signs

In Jackson County, Tennessee, Pastor Andrew Isker, a Christian nationalist podcaster, has demanded that neighbors remove the “Hate Has No Home Here in Jackson County” signs displayed around the area. He argues that such signs imply support for political violence toward people like him, particularly in the wake of the killing of activist Charlie Kirk. 

Despite calling out what he considers inflammatory rhetoric from others, Isker has himself used strong, confrontational language. During a live podcast, for example, he said that accusing someone of preaching hate is akin to wishing for violence against them: “saying I hope somebody puts a bullet in your neck,” and he expressed the hope that “every scumbag journalist is shaking in his boots right now.” 

A Scripps News investigation shows Isker is part of a broader project to build a Christian nationalist community in Jackson County, alongside his podcast partner C. Jay Engel. Isker has publicly contrasted himself with those who urge Christian followers to love their enemies and follow more traditional messages of forgiveness, saying instead that what he sees as extremist or hateful ideas must be “rooted out and eradicated.” He frames this not in vigilante terms, but as something that must be addressed by governmental action. 

He has also compared himself to Charlie Kirk—saying their views are “more or less the same”—and claimed that he has received death threats, attributing these threats to what he called irresponsible media coverage. However, local law enforcement (the Jackson County sheriff and Gainesboro police) report they have received no such threat reports from Isker or his associate Engel. 

In his public messages, Isker argues that if people who display the “No Hate” signs truly believe in reducing harsh rhetoric, then they should demonstrate this by taking down those signs. He asserts that many of these neighbors intend to imply violence by their signs, though he has offered no evidence that anyone using the signs has explicitly endorsed violence. 

Also relevant is that Isker’s effort is part of a larger movement: he and Engel are attempting to attract people who share their views—Christian nationalist, conservative, anti‑“liberal democracy”—to the area in order to build a community organized around those beliefs. Critics have expressed concern these ideas overlap with, or enable, white supremacist and authoritarian ideologies.

Source: SCRIPPS NEWS