 Following the murders, on August 18, the "Nashville Union and Dispatch" reported that Bierfield had deserved his "execution", and that the local Jewish community need not fear that this was "a war waged against them".In the style of "blaming the victim", as was typical after lynchings, the newspaper asserted that Bierfield had been a murderer, "among the very few criminals of their nation".Referring to "the letter written by the negro Israel Brown to John Nolin [sic]" (who was also black), which had been publicized before Bierfield was shot, the paper reported that the merchant was implicated in the murder of an innocent man.