‘It’s ungodly’: Security guard assaulted at Robert’s Western World

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The owners of a famous honky-tonk in downtown Nashville spoke with News 2 about a recent attack on their doorman, calling the incident “ungodly.”

The assault was recorded by a surveillance camera and a witness outside of Robert’s Western World on Thursday, June 20 at approximately 10:35 p.m. The owners of the Broadway honky-tonk said the guard was attacked after a group of four men wasn’t allowed inside due to “obvious intoxication and ill behavior.”

The videos of the attack show a man in a black polo shirt punching the doorman and then several others holding the employee back.

“He got punched, then they held him back, were choking him, then they tackled him on the ground. He’s got bruising on his knees. And while he was down, one guy actually held him back in a position to where the original guy that assaulted him was able to kick him in the head,” the co-proprietor and general manager of Robert’s Western World, Emily Ann Jones, explained.

This is the third time in as many years that Robert’s Western World has had an employee assaulted and turned to social media for help, making it clear that actions like this won’t be tolerated.

“Nobody wants this limelight, in a negative manner, if you will, but if you don’t call the bad guys out, if you don’t have somebody that stands up, what good is it doing the rest of the community? We’ve got to hold people accountable,” Jones stated.

Just like with the previous cases, the community rallied behind what’s known as one of Nashville’s last old school honky-tonks and helped identify all of the suspects believed to be involved in the attack. Jones said they are now waiting on criminal charges to move forward.

“JesseLee and I back our employees, we back our musicians,” Jones told News 2 We always say they’re an extension of our family, Robert’s is an extension of our home, and a lot of lifelong friends have met there, we’ve built relationships with people across the world at Robert’s, and it’s just something that we don’t tolerate.”

As for the doorman who was attacked, Jones said he is recovering well.