Nashville mayoral hopeful says she fired campaign manager after ties to Proud Boys exposed

A candidate for mayor in Nashville, Tennessee says that she has fired her campaign manager after his apparent ties to the Proud Boys were exposed.

The Nashville Banner reports that mayoral hopeful Alice Rolli said on Monday that she decided to fire former campaign manager Woodrow Johnston after learning that he told a pro-Trump activist that it was important "to get the Proud Boys out" to protest against the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 electoral victory.

"This morning I learned the consultant firm we hired had more than a strong connection to Proud Boys," Rolli wrote in a message to supporters this week. "Today I confirmed this alarming information and immediately severed ties with the firm. Hatred has no place in Nashville. It has no place on my campaign. After taking immediate steps to separate our campaign, I knew you needed to hear from me, directly."

Johnston, however, is disputing this version of events, as the Nashville Banner writes that the former campaign manager "provided a letter to Axios on Monday showing that he had resigned on Saturday."

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During a debate with Joe Biden during the 2020 election campaign, then-President Donald Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" when he was asked if he would condemn the group.

Many members of the Proud Boys would subsequently storm the Capitol on January 6th, 2021, actions for which several of them were convicted of seditious conspiracy.