Widow of officer killed in 2020 BLM riots defends Jason Aldean's song: 'Speaks of small-town values'

The widow of a retired police captain is speaking out in defense of country music star Jason Aldean’s song "Try That In A Small Town," saying people need to stand up for their community. 

Ret. Police Sgt. Ann Dorn, whose husband David was killed in St. Louis during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, told "Jesse Watters Primetime" that she wished there were more small-town-minded people around the night her husband was murdered. 

"There's a lot of disrespect now and there's no sense of community, and people don't stand up for their community," she said. "They don't stop these things that happen in a small town, just like Jason says in his song, you're not going to do that here, the community's not going to stand for it."

Aldean’s music video for his anti-crime song uses footage from the 2020 riots that depicts buildings burning and rioters looting. 

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Country Music Television pulled the video amid backlash from the public, with some critics accusing him of releasing a "pro-lynching" song over its location as the site of Henry Choate's lynching.

TackleBox, the production company for the music video, confirmed Wednesday that it was shot at Maury County Courthouse, saying it's a "popular filming location outside of Nashville." Several music videos and movies have filmed there, including the Lifetime Original movie "Steppin’ into the Holiday."

TackleBox further stated that the site was featured in a Runaway June music video for their 2019 song "We Were Rich," the 2022 Paramount holiday film "A Nashville Country Christmas," and Miley Cyrus' 2009 film "Hannah Montana: The Movie."

"Any alternative narrative suggesting the music video’s location decision is false," TackleBox added, noting that Aldean did not choose the location.

Aldean wrote on Twitter that he released the song because it "refers to the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief. Because they were our neighbors, and that was above any differences."

Dorn said the backlash the country music star is getting is "absurd." 

"I just watched the video today and it speaks of small-town values. It speaks of community values. It speaks of standing up for ourselves," she told host Jesse Watters. "When did it become illegal in the United States of America for us to stand up for ourselves? That's our given rights to protect ourselves, our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness."

"To have people criticize that, you know, when he puts it in a song, that's basically what he's saying," Dorn continued. "It's a sense of community. It's a sense of neighborhood. It's a sense of taking care of each other, and we've gotten so far away from that that it's actually very scary."

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She added that residents need to defend their communities and not let criminals "destroy" them. 

"The police stand between the criminals and the citizens," she said. "You know, they're there to protect them and for the police to be disrespected like they are, and the police need the community behind them to help them. And when you have a really good sense of community and the neighbors and your community stand against this tyranny and against these terroristic acts that are happening on U.S. soil, you know, it's all about accountability."

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"You're holding your government accountable. Your citizens are more accountable. Everything is just more accountable along the lines of common decency."