Ogles Fights with Protesters, Threatens to ‘Punch Mayor O’Connell in the Nose’ with National Guard Threats

by Sarah Grace Taylor, Nashville Banner, September 8, 2025 - At a rare local event in Spring Hill on Saturday, Rep. Andy Ogles came looking for a fight. 

After multiple screaming altercations with protesters and constituents — who were barred from the event and removed from the property by police — Ogles took questions at an Americans for Prosperity event called “One Big Beautiful Breakfast,” where the congressman was set to discuss the controversial Republican spending bill passed by Congress this summer.

Ogles defended the bill, his efforts to amend the Constitution and allow President Donald Trump a third term and inexplicably said that blue states were spending money on “housing for gay frogs,” when discussing appropriation bills. ... “I have a job to do. I defend the president’s agenda. I’m very close to the president, and I’m not going to back off,” Ogles said.

The particular piece of Trump’s agenda most discussed by Ogles and his critics was the use of the National Guard in domestic policing, which the president has done in Washington, D.C. and threatened to do in other Democratic cities. While Tennessee has several hundred troops in D.C., Ogles has called for the guard to address crime in Memphis and Nashville. 

“If Freddie O’Connell wants to be a man, he wants to defend his city, he wants to stand up for these people, then I’ll stand right there with him,” Ogles said. “But until he does, I’m gonna keep punching him in the nose.” 

“Politically speaking,” Ogles added after a pause.  

... “So instead of Freddie O’Connell hindering ICE agents, fantasizing about me and giving speeches, he should secure his dadgum city, or I will personally call the president and ask him to bring the National Guard in,” Ogles said.

... “If the president were to call and say, ‘Hey Ogles, what do you think?’ I would say, ‘Mr. President, obviously, when you look at statistics, when you look at data, it is a more dire situation in Memphis. But if we could spare the resources, I think Nashville would benefit from it, too,’” Ogles said. “So again, just follow facts.” 

Ogles then said he would only call for the National Guard “if Freddie O’Connell doesn’t do his job.” 

.... “I understand that this is a congressman who is himself under investigation and seems to be showing off for the president so he can get a pardon,” the mayor added, calling some of Ogles’ claims about crime “absurd” and noting that the Congressman does not live or have an office in Nashville.  (Read more)

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