Newspaper investigating ‘horrific’ end of times ad

A Tennessee newspaper said Sunday it is investigating what its editor called a “horrific” full-page advertisement from a religious group that predicts a terrorist attack in Nashville next month.

The paid advertisement that appeared in Sunday’s editions of The Tennessean from the group Future For America claims Donald Trump “is the final president of the USA” and features a photo of Trump and Pope Francis. It begins by claiming that a nuclear device would be detonated in Nashville and that the attack would be carried out by unspecific interests of “Islam.”

The group also ran a fullpage ad in Wednesday’s editions of the newspaper stating its intention to warn Nashville residents about next month’s event “so that they may be able to make a decision intelligently.”

In a story on its website Sunday afternoon, The Tennessean said the ad violated the newspaper’s long-established standards banning hate speech.

Vice-President and Editor Michael A. Anastasi said the paper’s news and sales departments operate independently.

“Clearly there was a breakdown in the normal processes, which call for careful scrutiny of our advertising content,” Anastasi said.

“The ad is horrific and is utterly indefensible in all circumstances. It is wrong, period, and should have never been published,” he said. “It has hurt members of our community and our own employees and that saddens me beyond belief. It is inconsistent with everything The Tennessean as an institution stands and has stood for.”

Sales executives ordered the ad to be removed from future editions, the newspaper said.

Council on IslamicAmerican Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement Sunday that while the group appreciates that the “Islamophobic” ad was pulled and an investigation has begun, “we would urge the Tennessean to also implement updated policies and staff training to ensure that this type of hate incident does not occur in the future. CAIR is willing to offer that training.”