But as he struggled Wednesday with his view of how the homeless could change their fortunes, Niceley chose someone who went from being homeless to being a historian for all the wrong reasons: Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader who led the genocide killed millions of Jews. “I’ve not given you all a history lesson in a long time, and I wanted to give you a little history of homelessness,” Niceley said. “[In] In 1910, Hitler decided to live on the streets for a while. So for two years, Hitler lived on the streets and practiced his rhetoric, his body language and how to connect with citizens, and then went on to lead a life that put him in the history books. “ “The Führer’s child”: How Hitler hugged a girl with Jewish roots Niceley, who said he supported the bill criminalizing homelessness camps on public property, added: “It’s not a dead end. “They can get out of these homeless camps and have a productive life – or, in Hitler’s case, a very unproductive life.” Shortly after Niceley’s self-taught lesson in Hitler’s history, the state legislature passed HB 0978 by 22 votes to 10, making “requesting or camping on a controlled access highway or entry or exit ramp” a misdemeanor. $ 50 fine and community service. The “permitting” bill, which allows local law enforcement to punish the homeless, is now headed to the office of Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R), who is expected to sign it. The state senator TN GOP uses Hitler as an example of how people can make something of themselves since they are homeless. This is absurd. pic.twitter.com/bhyTWIz6C1 – The Republican Accountability Project (@AccountableGOP) April 14, 2022 Niceley was met with reactions from Democrats and critics who questioned why it could nominate Hitler when it came to homelessness. Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson (D) shared a video of Niceley’s statements that has been viewed nearly 1 million times since Thursday afternoon. The Democrat said that “not a day goes by without the TN GOP embarrassing hell in our state.” “I have to apologize to the universe for this guy,” he wrote on Twitter. Letters found in an attic reveal eerie similarities between Adolf Hitler and his father Niceley did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Although the senator described his statement as a lesson in history, Hitler did not opt for homelessness. After failing to get admitted to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, he ran out of money and ended up sleeping on park benches and begging for money. Years before the Holocaust, he lived in a homeless shelter in Vienna between 1910 and 1913, with many of his friends being Jews, according to the Guardian. Historians have observed how Hitler described this homeless period as the “hardest and saddest” period of his life. Republican lawmakers have invoked Hitler’s name in various ways in recent years, either comparing coronavirus vaccination orders to the Holocaust or quoting from his memoirs, “Mein Kampf,” on the House floor about the power of using one “Big lies” mislead a naive audience. This is not the first time that controversy has erupted over Niceley, who represented the state before becoming state senator in 2012. In 2009, he was among a group of Tennessee Republicans who tried to force President Barack Obama to hand in his birth certificate to prove he was born in the United States. Many right-wingers, including Donald Trump, perpetuated lies about Obama during and after the 2008 presidential election. the Chattanooga Times Free Press. In 2017, Niceley told E&E News that carbon dioxide, which has emissions as a major driver of climate change, “is not polluting.” He misleadingly stated that “it’s just as natural as oxygen.” 2 ° C Beyond the limit: Dangerous new hot zones are spreading around the world In October, Niceley argued that companies like Ford moving to southern states like Tennessee represented how the South was winning the Civil War, which ended in 1865. He cited a conversation he had with his grandson, who asked him if South really lost the war. His answer: “It’s too early to say.” “You look at all these big companies like Ford Motor Company, Smith & Wesson coming down south, I think I can tell my grandson that the war between the states is going on and we are winning,” he said. SEN. NICELEY: “THE CIVIL WAR IS STILL CONTINUING, THE SOUTH IS WINNING.” As TN rewards @Ford $ 900 million, @senfrankniceley says companies coming to TN show that the South is winning a slavery war that ended in 1865. (The SOUTH LOST) PS TN is one of the most dependent on the federal state. pic.twitter.com/atvTRsmdPb – The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) October 21, 2021 Tennessee lawmakers have struggled with how to deal with the homeless. The state had about 7,256 homeless people every day since January 2020, according to the latest data from the U.S. Inter-Service Council on Homelessness. The bill backed in the legislature this week will extend the penalties for unauthorized state-owned encampment to all public property, making it a Category E offense, according to the WTVC. Critics have strongly opposed the bill, warning that condemning a homeless person “could possibly ruin someone’s life”. Democrats like Nashville State Sen. Brenda Gilmore argued this week that HB 0978 is perpetuating the Tennessee cycle of poverty. “It just breaks my heart to criminalize people who… have nowhere else to go,” Gilmore said. “And if you take and imprison their parents, then I think that again multiplies the issue of taking their parents away from these children simply because they are poor.” A day after the bill was passed, many on social media pointed to Nissell’s “very, very wrong” comments about promoting Hitler as an inspiration for the homeless. The Tennessee Holler, a liberal news outlet, posted a video of a reporter repeatedly asking Niceley why he used Hitler’s name. The Republican did not answer. Among those critics was MSNBC presenter Chris Hayes, who mocked Niceley’s moving “message to anyone out there experiencing homelessness.” “One day you too can become like Hitler,” Hayes wrote on Twitter.
