Image Credit: Paul Young / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –
At a recent town hall meeting Memphis Mayor Paul Young responded to discussion about President Donald Trump potentially deploying National Guard troops to Memphis to address the high crime rate.
Mayor Young stated that he would be staying in communication with Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) regarding the issue but that he hoped local and state-level efforts to reduce crime in Memphis would keep the troops away.
“Any call for National Guard will have much more input from the Governor, and so my goal is to keep the line of communications open,” said Young.
The mayor referenced recent crime statistics for Memphis which show crime in the city to be on the decline.
“In 2024, overall crime was down 13 percent, violent crime is down 19 percent, murders were down 29 percent,” he said.
According to News Channel 3, Memphis Police reported 145 murders this year compared to the 175 reported around this time last year.
Young also addressed recent questions regarding the validity of Memphis’ lower crime statistics.
“Let me be clear, because I got those that say they’re lying, ‘crime is not down because I just saw something happen,’” said Young. “I never said crime is over, so to be clear crime is not over.”
Last week the media leaked a letter, signed by Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis-District 31) and Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis-District 97), questioning the decline in crime and requesting an unannounced Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) audit of Memphis crime data.
Memphis lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have publicly agreed that it will take a continued effort from law enforcement and the community to bring crime rates down.
The town hall meeting, held on Tuesday, took place in Raleigh and was sponsored by Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell.
“There is no doubt that the landscape is changing fast and quickly in our country,” Caswell addressed his constituents, “y’all are hearing things on the news talking about this city has been targeted by the president.”
Caswell added that people should take the Trump’s comments seriously because of the influence he has in Tennessee.
“We can’t take for granted what’s happening when he got Bill Lee, brought in some of our National Guard to go to D.C.,” said Caswell.
An August 11th executive order from the president directed U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to work with governors across the country and “authorize the orders of any additional members of the National Guard to active service, as he deems necessary and appropriate, to augment this mission.”
Trump’s initial list of cities that could possibly see an influx of National Guard show up to counter high crime rates included Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Oakland.
Even though Memphis was not mentioned, earlier this month, KWAM’s Todd Starnes asked Trump in an interview if other cities could be next on the list for a National Guard presence.
“We’re doing sort of a test right now in D.C., it’s working unbelievably, much faster than we thought,” Trump answered. “We’ve arrested hundreds of criminals, hardline criminals, people that will never be any good.”
Towards the end of the interview, Trump referenced his comments about the National Guard deployments saying, “I’ll think about Memphis.”
The governor has since stated that he is not planning to send National Guard troops to Memphis or any other city in Tennessee.
“We have no plans to put the National Guard there now,” Lee told reporters last week.
Lee said that he believes Trump “made a smart decision” to address crime in DC like he did, but that Tennessee has made “significant investments” to curb crime in Memphis without help from the federal government.
“We’ve had no conversations with the president or his team about National Guard in Memphis,” said Lee. “We have targeted our efforts and our communications with those federal agencies. I even spoke this morning with an FBI official about our efforts in Memphis and Shelby County and how they’re working. So that’s where we are today.”
About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach Adelia at adelia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
3 Responses
Memphis is incredibly dangerous. Don’t go there unless you must and if you must, carry a gun and watch your back – the criminals like to come from behind and shoot people in the back. Housing prices are about 35% of those in Nashville because people don’t want to live there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFr0qvpxKI Lucifer’s accursed dimmercraps can only run things into the ground.
Where’s the useless Bill Lee and his head of TN law enforcement Jeff Long? Always missing in action. Why has this been allowed to fester for such a long time? Hey Bill and Jeff you’ve had 7 years!
Next is to ask GOP gov candidates what they would do about this? Hey Marsha Marsha Marsha?