Why have the Nashville New Year's Eve fireworks been canceled?

Publish date: 2024-05-01

NEW Year's Eve fireworks in Nashville, Tennessee have been canceled after the tragic events of December 25 in the city.

Celebrations will still be had, however, to close out 2020 and bring in the New Year.

Why have the Nashville New Year's Eve fireworks been canceled?

Nashville's New Year's Eve fireworks have been canceled in light of the Nashville bombing which happened just days before the firework celebration was due.

"We need to be patient, we need to be smart, we’ve been through a lot," Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation CEO Butch Spyridon told News Channel 5.

"We were going to surprise the community with some fireworks. We were going to surprise the community by blowing up the 2020 numbers to get rid of the year. It didn’t take much for all of us to go - that’s a bad idea and it’s too soon," said Spyridon.

Will there still be a New Year's Eve celebration in Nashville?

Despite the tragedy, there were still be a celebration in the Music City to bring in 2021.

Moon Taxi and The Shindellas will perform live and bars will still be open, although with a curfew.

"The bars still have to close at 11. They have -- I think it's last call at 10, music stops at 10:30 and out the door at 11," explained Spyridon.

While crowds aren't encouraged, they will likely be present.

Bars that stay open past the curfew will be given a civil warrant and a judge would determine the fine the business owner would have to pay, according to News Channel 5.

"Long term recovery -- let’s get this right sooner," Spyridon added.

What was the Nashville bombing attack?

An explosion in downtown Nashville on Christmas Day damaged at least 41 businesses and caused one building to partially collapse.

The fireball blast is believed to have come from a bomb inside a white RV parked on 2nd Avenue.

The terrible explosion injured three people and caused widespread damage to the surrounding area. 

Human remains found at the site were confirmed to be bombing suspect Anthony Quinn Warner’s, although the bomber’s body was so badly obliterated in the explosion that cops say they had to use DNA from his hat and gloves to identify the scattered human remains.

Warner blasted himself, half a city block, and possibly even his dogs in the bomb which burst into flames in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning. 

Law enforcement is looking into motives of destruction rather than death, as the blast was preceded by an audio recording warning locals to evacuate.

A witness recalled the stark warning stating: '"Evacuate now. There is a bomb. A bomb is in this vehicle and will explode."

The audio then switched to Petula Clark's 1964 hit "Downtown", shortly before the blast on the downtown streets of Nashville .

The blast on Christmas Day significantly disrupted cell service in Tennessee, and across the South.

Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee has pleaded with President Trump for government assistance because the "severity and magnitude of the current situation" was beyond what Tennessee could handle.

Who is the Nashville bomb suspect?

IT expert Anthony Quinn Warner was named as the Nashville bombing suspect.

Warner was identified by the FBI on December 27 after DNA samples recovered from the scene matched those of Anthony Quinn Warner.

It is believed Warner thought he would be "hailed a hero" for the bombing.

He had told his ex-girlfriend that he had cancer nearly three weeks before the bomb, and gave her his car, according to the New York Times.

The 63-year-old is believed to be a conspiracy theorist and spent time allegedly hunting for alien life forms in a local state park.

Some of the notes obtained by police are reportedly centred around different world order theories, including the idea that shape-shifting reptilian creatures take on human form in an attempt at world domination.

Authorities are also looking into the idea that IT-expert Warner may have been motivated to target an AT&T building due to paranoia over 5G technology.

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Some conspiracy theorists suspect the wireless technology emits lethal radiation, is killing people and is being used to spy on Americans.

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Warner had previously told his neighbour, Rick Laude less than a week before the bombing: "Nashville and the world is never going to forget me."

As Warner was named as the suspect of the bombing, his mother, 85-year-old Betty Lane, praised her son as a "good man."

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