Rep. Patsy Hazlewood Blocks Constituent Comments, Conservative Challenger Michele Reneau’s Signs Stolen & Vandalized

Image Credit: @TnCoNews1 / X & Representative Patsy Hazlewood / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

In the middle of an election year, Rep. Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain-District 27) is allegedly blocking constituent comments from appearing on her social media pages, likely because these comments attempted to call the GOP incumbent out on her voting record.

This type of behavior from a government official was previously not allowed under the rulings of multiple U.S. Appellate Courts a few years ago, including a July 9^th, 2019 ruling from the Second Court of Appeals stating that Former President Donald Trump could not legally block people on social media without potentially violating their 1^st Amendment rights. 

“One of the core purposes of the First Amendment is to allow people, regardless of their views, to hold the government accountable through expression,” ACLU Staff Attorney Vera Eidelman wrote at the time. “So, if your elected representative has an official Facebook page where she invites comments, can she block you from commenting because you criticize her work? According to a federal appeals court, the answer is a resounding no.”

However, in March of this year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there are circumstances when government officials can permissibly block a constituent from their social media pages, provided they are not claiming to speak on the state’s behalf.

Now, according to our source, RINO incumbent Rep. Hazlewood is blocking the discourse of multiple constituents who penned comments criticizing her track record while in office.

Rep. Hazlewood faces conservative challenger, Michele Reneau, in the upcoming GOP primaries.

According to reports from Reneau’s campaign, hundreds of unique primary voters are visiting HowPatsyVotes.com every day to learn more about some of Rep. Hazlewood’s not-so-conservative votes. 

Reneau is running as a constitutional conservative to defend faith, family, and freedom.

Her platform is anti-illegal immigration, pro-parental rights, pro-1^st Amendment, pro-2^nd Amendment, pro-sanctity of life, pro-limited government, and pro-informed consent for District 27 voters concerning her opponent’s voting record.

Volunteers for Reneau’s campaign say, “We know the message is effective, because when we show folks Patsy’s voting record at the door, they all say, ‘we’re not voting for that.’”

Still, locals report that many of the yard signs highlighting Rep. Hazlewood’s voting record are “mysteriously disappearing,” getting run over or being stolen. 

This is despite the fact that theft and vandalism of political signs is a crime in Tennessee. 

In most cases, theft or vandalism of a campaign sign is a Class A misdemeanor for property theft of an item valued at $1,000 or less. Various felonies are outlined for items valued any higher.

Other charges that could be accrued in the theft or vandalism of campaign signage include a Class C misdemeanor for criminal trespassing and a possible Class D felony for civil rights intimidation.