Metronashville Police will take custody 19-year-old Elijah Miller, who carried a handgun at a “No Kings” rally in Nashville on June 14, 2025. (Photo: Cassandra Stevenson/Tennesse Seal Checkout)

According to Murfreesboro Police, the 19-year-old protester, who was arrested at the No King Slurry in Nashville on June 14, was flagged by the Federal Terrorism Task Force two months ago after posting an image of a shotgun with the “mass shooter and neo-Nazi symbolic names” engraved by the Federal Terrorism Task Force.

Elijah Miller of Murfreesboro was arrested by Nashville police at the rally and charged with disorderly conduct after witnesses reported swinging a handgun. Police seized the pistol from the mirror at the scene.

Murfreesboro police arrested Miller three days later and charged him with three counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and misdemeanor. Miller also faces federal claims for illegal possession of a firearm.

Miller, who has been treated for his mental health for several years, has been under his parents since 2023 after Rutherford County Chance Court Judge determined that he was a “disabled person in need of care” and “at risk of causing serious harm to his health, safety and welfare.” Court documents show that the reserve has restricted access to firearms.

According to court documents obtained by Tennessee watchers, detectives at the Murfreesboro Police Station reported that they received hints from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force on April 3, posting shotguns and small revolvers, previously known as Twitter.

When police visited Miller’s house, Miller’s mother – his guardian – voluntarily gave both firearms and told them “he bought the firearm from the gun show without her consent,” the affidavit states.

Miller’s reserve requires him to accompany his mother or stepfather to purchase weapons, and federal court documents say that he cannot purchase or store any weapons of any kind without his mother’s consent.

Miller’s public federal defense attorney was not immediately accessible. Attempts to contact Miller’s mother were unsuccessful.

On June 16, two days after Miller was arrested in the Nashville protest, police received a call claiming that Miller had issued a suicide statement. Police met Miller outside his home and confiscated a handgun loaded from his waistband and a magazine loaded from his pocket. When police contacted Miller’s mother over the phone, she told them “Mr. Miller is violating the reserve again, not realising that he has a Walther handgun.”

Miller was taken to hospital for mental health care, and police arrested him when he was released on June 17 for possessing three weapons in violation of his guardian.

Federal prosecutors argued for Miller’s detention in a June 22 filing, citing that “social media posts and online activities (it) raised concerns among law enforcement that the defendant had a desire to commit mass violence.”

Miller will continue to be held at Rutherford County Adult Detention Center. If he is released from state custody, he will be transferred to federal custody, and according to federal court orders he will remain until federal trial.