MAURY COUNTY — Tennessee GOP leaders condemned racist and antisemitic mailers distributed in June 2026, leading to a confrontation at a local meeting where Austin Lee was escorted out by law enforcement. The mailers, sent under the name of a Maury County Young Republicans chapter, contained messages such as "No wars for Jews," "Stop the Great Replacement," "Ban Islam and Hinduism," and "Men in charge." They also stated, "Nonwhite foreigners have invaded our country and are replacing White Americans."

Maury County GOP chair Jason Gilliam said the mailers were sent without authorization and that Lee holds no formal leadership position in the county GOP. Gilliam confirmed the Maury County Young Republicans chapter is currently inactive. "It's appalling that somebody would send this out," Gilliam said. "This kind of thing really disgusts me."

The mailers were sent to approximately 2,000 households with young white men, primarily in Maury County and some surrounding counties. State Representative Scott Cepicky condemned the mailers at a local GOP meeting, noting the use of the Tennessee Young Republicans logo. The statewide Tennessee Young Republicans later issued a statement asserting that the use of their logo was unauthorized and that they did not endorse the communications.

Cepicky identified himself as Jewish at the meeting. "I'm a Jew, I'm an Ashkenazi Jew," Cepicky said. He threatened legal action against those who distributed the mailers. Lee identified himself after this threat and stated, "We will not fight wars for you." Law enforcement then escorted Lee from the meeting.

Cepicky accused Lee of spreading rhetoric similar to that espoused in Europe during the 1930s. "We hear about this stuff, and people are like, 'Well, you know, that's over there, or that's in another state, that's not here,'" Cepicky said. "Let me tell you something. It came to Maury County." Lee later stated in an interview that he took over the Maury County Young Republicans chapter. Gilliam and Cepicky announced they would push for an investigation into the unauthorized use of the organization's name.