Image: President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, Sept. 15, 2025. Image Credit: Molly Riley / Official White House Photo via Flickr / United States Government Work
***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.
By Kim Jarrett, The Center Square –
A year after President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding that deployed the National Guard to Memphis and led to a task force, legal challenges are ongoing as federal and state officials tout statistics showing a reduction in crime.
Gov. Bill Lee signed a memorandum of understanding on Sept. 15, 2025, authorizing the National Guard in Memphis to help local law enforcement. The National Guard is part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, which consists of state, federal and local law enforcement agents that work together.
Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, now running for Tennessee governor, said during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting that nearly 13,000 arrests have been made and 189 missing children found. Of the arrests, more than 1,400 were gang members.
“In the 29 arrests that were made just yesterday, here are some of the crimes,” Blackburn said during Tuesday’s hearing. “Criminally negligent homicide, first degree murder, prohibited weapon machine gun, possession of a firearm while in possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of a weapon. This is all in a good day’s work for the 30 federal agencies that are on the ground there.”
The Memphis Crime Commission, a nonprofit that tracks crime rates, shows that overall crime is down 23% in 2026 compared to 2025, and major violent crime is down 30.4%.
At least three lawsuits have targeted the task force since its inception. The most recent lawsuit concerns legislation that requires Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to file reports with the General Assembly on dismissed or settled task force cases every 10 days. The case also challenges a law that permits the state to audit Mulroy’s charges related to the task force. The bills were passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Lee.
Mulroy sued the state in May in Shelby County Chancery Court, saying the laws are unconstitutional. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a motion to dismiss. The case is still pending.
The National Police Association, a nonprofit advocacy group, launched an online petition urging Mulroy to drop his lawsuit. It has 9,999 signatures.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit that accuses the task force of violating the First Amendment rights of some Memphis residents who film law enforcement members when they are making an arrest. The lawsuit challenges Tennessee’s “Halo Law,” which requires the public to remain 25 feet away from law enforcement officers during an arrest or an investigation.
The latest accusation against the Task Force involves Hunter Demster, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, who says Task Force members are harassing him.
“Task Force agents used Tennessee’s Halo Law as a moving barrier to push Mr. Demster farther and farther from the scene he was documenting,” said Lucas Cameron-Vaughn, legal director with the ACLU of Tennessee and one of the attorneys representing Demster. “When I identified myself as his attorney and tried to speak with him after his arrest, agents threatened me with arrest too. No one should face intimidation, surveillance, or arrest for peacefully recording law enforcement activity in their own community.”
The case is still pending.
In a separate lawsuit, a group of lawmakers and citizens challenging the constitutionality of the National Guard’s deployment in Memphis lost a court battle on April 28 when the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled against them.
The Center Square was unsuccessful prior to publication obtaining a comment from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Memphis Mayor Paul Young.
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“The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit that accuses the task force of violating the First Amendment rights of some Memphis residents who film law enforcement members when they are making an arrest. The lawsuit challenges Tennessee’s “Halo Law,” which requires the public to remain 25 feet away from law enforcement officers during an arrest or an investigation.”
Common sense says onlookers should stand back and not get in the way. The ACLU has become goofy.
Memphis is an incredibly dangerous place. Don’t go there unless you must, and if you go there watch your back and carry a gun. It is NOT like other TN cities.
Here’s one example > A famous rapper from Memphis named MoneyBagg Yo wrote a song in 2021 named “Memphganistan” and in 2024 it was made into a movie. Memphis is so dangerous that he moved to Atlanta in 2022 to escape the violence in Memphis after his friend Big Nuskie was murdered.
If you want to read more, go to https://tennesseeconservativenews.com/memphis-stories-memphis-is-incredibly-dangerous-dont-go-there-but-if-you-must-stay-alert-and-watch-for-killers/