Brad Tumey

Following the tragic loss of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, Brad Tumey wanted to hold a candlelight prayer vigil on the City of Morristown’s downtown green space. On September 15, Mr. Tumey called the City to inquire about the use of the downtown green for this event and was informed that a permit to use the downtown green for a prayer vigil would not be approved per City Ordinance § 9-204. The ordinance states: “No one shall engage in…political or religious activities on the [downtown green] premises.”

Believing a blanket ban on religious activity was wrong, Mr. Tumey submitted an application on Wednesday, September 17, to conduct the prayer vigil on the downtown green that Friday, September 19. Noting the City’s request to submit permit applications 30 days in advance, he submitted an additional event permit application for another prayer vigil on October 17, to correspond near Kirk’s birthday.

Mr. Tumey hoped the City would follow constitutional law and permit his vigil, but the City denied his permit request, relying on the local ordinance mentioned above as basis. In response to this violation of the First Amendment, First Liberty Institute sent a demand letter to city officials addressing this constitutional shortcoming.

In the demand letter, First Liberty attorneys pointed out the discrimination in the City’s permitting process, allowing a wide variety of activities while explicitly banning religious activities. The letter states, “The City welcomes the public to reserve the downtown green for both public and private events, such as car shows, concerts, corporate meetings, or even family gatherings. Yet, any religious activity is outright banned. Though a local business could gather with its employees to engage in team-building exercises, a local church leadership team could not. The question at the core of the City’s decision to approve or deny a permit is whether religion is involved.”

After releasing a public statement designed to minimize the conflict, the City confirmed its religious ban in its reply to First Liberty’s demand letter, affirmatively denying Mr. Tumey’s candlelight prayer vigil permit. The City mentioned an unsubstantiated scheduling conflict, but ultimately rested its denial on City Ordinance § 9-204, emphasizing that they do not allow religious events in the public venue.

Following this exchange, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti weighed in with a formal letter to the City of Morristown, TN criticizing the local ordinance that prevents Mr. Tumey from holding a prayer vigil on the downtown green space. The Tennessee AG warned, “Tennessee law prohibits denying a person the full and equal enjoyment of a public accommodation on the grounds of religion. Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-501…. Should Morristown enforce Section 9-204 as written, the City would be treating activities differently on the basis of religion and would therefore be in violation of Tennessee’s Human Rights Act…”

AG Skrmetti’s letter can be read here.

In response to the letters received from First Liberty Institute and the Tennessee Attorney General, the City agreed to approve the candlelit prayer vigil planned for October 17th on the downtown green. Additionally, in October, the Morristown City Council voted to remove the prohibition against religious activities from its ordinance. Now the downtown green is available for religious events like a prayer vigil.