An 80-year old retired nurse practitioner who specialized in psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was arrested and charged on Monday after being carried out of a Tennessee Senate committee meeting by Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers.
On Monday morning, the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee voted to pass SB 0836, an amended bill that would authorize public schools and public charter schools to charge undocumented students tuition or refuse to enroll them if the established tuition amount is not paid.
The bill is sponsored by Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) and State Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson).
Monday’s discussion on the bill in the Finance, Ways and Means Committee drew protesters who became disruptive after the vote and caused lawmakers to go into recess for law enforcement to clear the hearing chamber.
Among the individuals against the bill was 80-year old Lynne McFarland, who was present inside the chamber as it was being cleared.
McFarland, according to court documents obtained by WSMV, was informed by law enforcement that she would be given five minutes to leave the chamber or be arrested. She proceeded to remain seated and said it was “okay.”
The Nashville Scene posted video of the spectacle, as they and several media outlets recorded troopers surrounding McFarland and gingerly removing her from her seat in the committee room audience area, in order to carry her to the back of a patrol vehicle outside of the Cordell Hull building.
McFarland was charged with disrupting a meeting or procession and resisting arrest, according to WSMV. She bonded out on a $2,000 bond.
On Tuesday, McFarland spoke out on her arrest in a Facebook post, saying she “felt at peace” sitting in the hearing chamber to show her opposition to the bill.
“I didn’t intend to get arrested when I left for Cordell Hull yesterday morning. If I had, I wouldn’t have worn my nice jewelry and Eileen Fisher slacks,” McFarland said. “Sitting in the hearing, I felt at peace and I felt compassion for All of Us, and I just could not cooperate. My heart wouldn’t let me. The Troopers were kind…I could not cooperate with this process and I got arrested.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Image “Lynne McFarland Arrest” by Nashville Scene.
