Nashville police: Arrest made in historic courthouse fire

As police continued searching for individuals who “betrayed the protesters” at a peaceful Saturday rally that was interrupted by violence and destruction, they arrested a man and charged him in connection with a fire set at the Metro Nashville courthouse. 

Detectives from the specialized investigations division and SWAT officers took Wesley Somers, 25, into custody Sunday night at a home on Manzano Road in Madison, police said.

Somers did not cooperate with detectives after his arrest, and Police Chief Steve Anderson said a motive had not been identified.

Citizen tips and pictures from the scene led investigators to Somers, police said. Anderson said more arrests are expected as the arson investigation continued.

Officials have said they believe a small, coordinated group of instigators infiltrated the "I Will Breathe" rally and march, which drew more than a thousand people to downtown Nashville.

The demonstration — one of several happening across the country — was organized to protest police brutality and the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after an officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

Protesters remained peaceful for hours before isolated bursts of violence and vandalism arose, first at the Central Precinct and then at the courthouse.

Individuals threw rocks, smashed windows, pummeled police cruisers and damaged more than 30 buildings in the downtown corridor.

The courthouse windows were smashed, its walls were spray painted with graffiti and fires were started inside the building, damaging a portion of the mayor's office. A plaque commemorating the civil rights movement in Nashville was destroyed.

Officers dressed in riot gear deployed tear gas as people clustered in Public Square Park, the green space in front of the courthouse. Gov. Bill Lee authorized a curfew in Nashville and deployed the National Guard in an effort to diffuse the chaos.

While Somers appeared to be local, Lee said there was evidence some of the individuals had traveled to Tennessee from out of state to commit crimes during the protest. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other state agencies are looking into the matter.

Anderson said the police department suspected some of the violence was premeditated.

"Obviously there was some organization that occurred," he said Monday during a media briefing. “It was a criminal element that entered into this group of people and organized what they did”

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Somers is facing charges of aggravated arson and disorderly conduct. He was booked into the Metro Jail, and his bond was set at $755,000.  

Somers has prior criminal charges in Davidson and Sumner counties, including ones for drug paraphernalia, child neglect and domestic assault.

In December 2016, officers said they observed Somers using heroin in a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot. His two young children, who were 2-year-old and 8-months-old at the time, were with him, the Davidson County affidavit shows.

In another instance, in July 2017, Somers was accused of aggravated assault. A woman called police in Sumner County after jumping out a car Somers was driving, according to the arrest affidavit. Officers found her with a “busted” lip and swelling to the left side of her head.

Wesley Ryan Baxter, who no longer lives in Tennessee, got to know Somers several years ago when they often met up on jobs for different environmental companies in the area several years ago.

Baxter described Somers as a hard worker who sometimes put in 12 to 14 hour days, he said.

“Never in a hundred-million years did I see anything like that coming,” Baxter said of the allegations Somers set fire to the courthouse.

Adam Tamburin and Kelly Fisher contributed.

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.