Resolutions Against National Guard Fail In Memphis City Council & Shelby County Commission

Image Credit: Tennessee National Guard / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –

Both the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission voted on resolutions against the upcoming National Guard deployment, but all failed despite support from local Democrat leaders and liberal residents.

Councilmember Jerri Green, who is also a Democrat candidate for Governor, authored and presented the resolution to the council during their Sept. 23 meeting, which ultimately failed in a 4-4 vote with two abstentions. 

The resolution’s text urged Gov. Lee to reject President Trump’s “proposal to send National Guard troops to Memphis” and would have authorized the Council Attorney “to take whatever legal action is necessary to oppose the occupation of the National Guard in Memphis.”

In justifying why the council believes the Guard to be “unnecessary”, the resolution cited the questionable “25-year low” crime statistics, argued that pulling Guard members who already serve as local law enforcement or first responders from their regular duties will “threaten” progress already made in preventing crime, and called for more investments into “mental health supports, violence intervention, and other services and programs”.

As it was only a resolution and not binding legislation, councilmembers acknowledged that it could not have stopped the deployment, but that their intent was to allow them to file a lawsuit if they deemed the Guard acted unconstitutionally once in the area. 

Addressing the council in favor of the resolution, State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis-District 86) claimed poverty was the problem in Memphis and money was the preferred solution. 

“We don’t need to be another pawn in this authoritarian and want-to-be dictator’s scheme. We need to stand up as a city, we need to stand up with a united voice saying, ‘If you want to help us, give us the resources, give us the money.’ We don’t need military occupation, we need poverty eradication,” he declared. 

Vice Chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party Luke Cymbal critiqued the Democrats for grandstanding, saying he didn’t care if the resolution passed because it held no weight in the law and would have made “abundantly clear to the people of Memphis which party is on the side of restoring law and order, and that is the Republican Party of Shelby County, and which party is on the side of creating division and not wanting to accept these federal resources to help us clean up our crime problem in Memphis, and that’s the Democrat party.”

During a tense Monday night meeting, the Shelby County Commission debated two resolutions against the Guard. One resolution proposed the Guard not be deployed to the city at all while the second created a set of parameters for the deployment including restricting troops to support roles, limiting their access to public facilities, and capping the deployment at 90 days. 

“You’re going to have a generation, several generations of traumatized children because they’re going to be seeing these individuals with fatigues, military fatigues on, heavy artillery,” argued Commissioner Henri Brooks. 

Others contended poverty was the underlying issue or that the Guard could not be an asset to a community it does not know while commissioners and residents on the flip side of the argument maintained the need for help amid disinvestments and an inability of local law enforcement to meet the needs of the community due to factors like understaffing and underfunding.

Both proposals ultimately failed with narrow margins after over an hour of heated debate between the commissioners themselves and members of the public. 

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers responded to inquiries from local media regarding all the resolutions, stating “Numerous Tennessee officials have applauded President Trump’s generous offer to help the Great State of Tennessee clean up Memphis- which had the highest violent crime rate, highest property crime rate, and third-highest murder rate in 2024. Just like President Trump successfully transformed crime-ridden Washington, D.C. into a safe city in a matter of days, he will also quickly save Memphis from soft-on-crime policies and make it safe again.”

There is still no official timeline for the National Guard deployment, but speculations by local lawmakers and media outlets have troops in the city within the next two weeks.

About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.