A Vice Mayor in Cookeville is vehemently denying allegations that he is involved in the recent anti-ICE scandal, insisting that he is not the man named in the report and is, in fact, the very opposite.
Luke Eldridge is the Vice Mayor of Cookeville, TN, as well as a youth pastor at Engrafted Word Church. Along with being a bona fide conservative leader in his community, he’s been active in the cultural battles, including fighting to get LGBTQ books out of children’s libraries.
He was recently featured in the Highlands Insider following the death of Charlie Kirk, calling Kirk a “warrior for truth” and quoting Scripture while urging children to follow his example of courage and clarity.
Unfortunately, he has been falsely associated with the Signalgate scandal after someone by that name appeared in @DataRepublican’s data dump of anti-ICE donors.
Following questions and blowback from his constiutents, he shared a statement with Forge and Anvil host Connor B:
Recent social media posts spreading misinformation about me, Luke Eldridge, Vice Mayor of Cookeville are baseless and untrue. These claims say I donated to or supported “Stand with Minnesota,” a group associated with anti-ICE activism. That Luke Eldridge is not me. There are other Luke’s out there. I’ve got too much to do locally to worry about the turmoil in Minneapolis.
I proudly support law enforcement and hold deep respect for the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting our communities and our country. I don’t contribute to anti-police movements.
As a Christian conservative, a youth pastor, and an active member of the Putnam County Republican Party (PCRP). I am committed to upholding traditional values, limited government, and the rule of law. I mentor young people to equip the next generation to love God, love their country and live a life worth modeling. I take ethics and integrity seriously and will not lend any credibility to online speculation, rumors, or attempts at intimidation.
My Christian values guide my decisions personally and professionally, and my public service in Cookeville has always been focused on serving our residents with honesty and dedication. I appreciate the support of the Cookeville community and remain fully committed to representing you with transparency and principle.
For any questions or to verify facts, please feel free to reach out to my office.
Sincerely, Luke Eldridge Vice Mayor, City of Cookeville
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Welcome to the war, my fellow collateral damage, scapegoat and cannon fodder. That’s our job. It’s right were we’re supposed to be, standing in the crossfire, speaking the truth to all sides, while the more the battle escalates the less any side cares about the truth. It’s where Jesus stood. It’s where the Apostle’s stood. It’s where we all stand. It’s the job the Lord gave us, and we do our job, with the peace, comfort, knowledge, courage, conviction and steadfastness of men, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We may think we shouldn’t have to publish such information as this article, to set the record straight. But the truth is that it’s God’s doing. It’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing. And in that knowledge, we can take courage and be at peace, rejoicing that the Lord has used us. The enemy’s fiery darts will backfire.
So much of the chaos and turmoil could be easy abated simply by stopping all the false accusation and lying. But it seems many on all sides, though mostly on the left, are intent on “winning” by any means, which is the type of win that can only be a loss. They lie because they’re guilty. They sin in order to try to cover up more sins. Constantly doubling down. They want to be the hero and savior of mankind, while continually proving themselves the least qualified of all. When if they would look to the real hero and Savior of Mankind, they’d have a lot less problems to be bellyaching about.
DataRepublican does excellent work, for which we’re all indebted. But at the same time, she needs to understand that the more polarized things become, the less anybody will pay attention to honest disclaimers. They’ll hear what they want to hear, read what they want to read, and run with it like wild men if there’s any inkling at all they think it will help their cause – even when doing so stupidly does nothing but hand the enemy free ammunition.
This is a spiritual war. And spiritual wars are not won by making the other side afraid of you. Because it’s not us they need to fear. It’s the Lord they should fear. Though I’d say individuals with a picture of a toy soldier wearing a gigantic gold cross chain, are most likely trolls and fakes, out to cause and stir up trouble, most likely working for the other side. Yet there are some who aren’t trolls, who are of the same, very wrong, mind …
Some simple advice for DataRebublican. Put the speculative stuff in separate columns/fields, and keep separate columns for the proven stuff, and/or define flags to separate the two. Then remove the column and/or flagged data, when making the information public. Things are far too polarized right now to be expecting the entire public to pay attention to and honor disclaimers. Some people have nearly lost their minds, and others never had much of one to speak of. So it might be wise to keep the speculative stuff closer to the vest. The whole internet sleuthing thing is good in some ways, and bad in others. Technically adding a disclaimer doesn’t constitute a blatant false accusation, but to include it at all certainly is a step in that direction, somewhat insinuating. She needs to understand that because of her position and reputation for accuracy, having gained some measure of authority on such matters, specifically because she has done excellent and valuable work, that she needs to be a bit more careful about what she says. To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). A wise man once said to me “people are stupid” … it’s true, and it would be a good idea for her to keep that in mind. Not that she’s guilty of anything. She isn’t, and has done nothing wrong. But it’s a good idea to be more careful.