Last week, McMinn County made news when the school board voted to ban beloved graphic novel Maus — a Holocaust story told with anthropomorphic mice and cats — due to instances of swear words and nudity. While the vote happened in early January, it went viral following a report from TN Holler.

Last night, Mt. Juliet pastor and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Greg Locke decided to turn it up a notch by organizing an old-fashioned book burning. The books included millennial staples like Harry Potter and Twilight — hits of the early Aughts that were targeted by Christian book burnings back in the day.

In a sermon preceding the bonfire, Locke described beefing with "Free Mason devils" and said "I ain't gonna be 'suiciding myself' no time soon." Locke also said people aren't mad that they were burning books, but mad because of the books they were burning — implying that his critics, even other pastors, were devil and witchcraft supporters.

You can see the footage in Locke's Facebook video of the event — the burning starts about an hour in.

Tennessee ended January on a couple fucked-up and embarrassing notes, thanks to the aforementioned book-ban news in McMinn County as well a shocking incident wherein law enforcement officers gunned down a man on the highway. Locke's fiery assault on youth literature might just keep that godawful streak going into February.

Tyler Salinas took photos of the event, and said there was one counterprotester in attendance. The man threw a book into the fire and claimed it was the Bible while holding up copies of Fahrenheit 451 and On the Origin of Species. Check out Salinas' photos below:

Greg Locke Book Burning

Tags

Like what you read?


Click here to make a contribution to the Scene and support local journalism!