Wanted to make sure everybody was safe. The tragic death of University of Missouri college student Riley Strain shook Nashville last year after the 22-year old was found dead in the Cumberland River. Strain went missing last March after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s lower Broadway bar, Luke’s 32 Bridge, and then for some reason walked in the opposite direction of his hotel. Authorities said at the time there was no sign of foul play, and Luke’s bar released a statement during the search clarifying that he was served only one alcoholic drink and two waters at their bar before being asked to leave. Investigators with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission determined that Strain was not visibly intoxicated or overserved at Luke’s, but security at the bar said that the student was “verbally aggressive with staff” and was not allowed to re-enter. After being kicked out of the bar, Strain’s friends continued partying and said they would meet him back at their hotel that night – but he never made it back, and wasn’t in the room when his fraternity brothers returned at 1:00 AM. When he hadn’t returned the next day, the friends finally called police to report him missing, setting off a furious search for the student that would end two weeks later when his body was discovered in the river. The death was ruled an accident, and Nashville Metro Police have since closed their investigation. And as it turns out, even as he was being arrested, Morgan Wallen still had Strain’s death on his own mind. Not long after Strain passed away, Morgan was set to open his own bar in downtown Nashville, called Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen. The bar is located on 4th Avenue, just off of Broadway, and only a few blocks from where Strain went missing. Of course Morgan’s bar faced pushback from some members of the Metro Nashville City Council, who voted to deny a sign permit for the venue after Morgan was arrested in early April of 2024 on felony charges of reckless endangerment for throwing a chair off the rooftop of his friend Eric Church’s downtown Nashville bar, Chief’s. (Morgan eventually pled guilty to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to probation, as well as two days in a DUI education center). But during his arrest, Morgan expressed concern for the security of his own upcoming bar, and his insistence that precautions be taken to prevent a tragedy like Strain from happening again. In recently released body cam footage from the April 2024 arrest, Morgan can be heard talking about his venue, including his partnership with hospitality company TC Restaurant Group – the same company that owns Luke Bryan’s bar: “They just paid me for my name, you know?” And he asked the officer’s opinion of TC Group, revealing that he expressed concerns about security after Strain’s death: “I was just talking to my lawyer, I was like, ‘Hey man, you saw that Riley guy.’ I was like, ‘Hey, we gotta make sure that does not happen at our bar.'” Now, I’m sure some people will dismiss his comments as only worrying about liability or the effect on his reputation that a similar incident would have. But even if that’s the case, it’s commendable that Morgan saw an incident like that and wanted to do his part to prevent it from happening again. The post Morgan Wallen Wanted Security At His Nashville Bar To Be A Priority After Tragic Death Of Riley Strain: “Make Sure That Does Not Happen At Our Bar” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.