NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis’ mayor said Saturday that President Donald Trump’s TV announcement the day before was the first hard confirmation he received that the National Guard would be sent to the city an anti-crime mission.
He said Memphis is “deeply troubled” and “we’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” where he deployed the National Guard and surged federal law enforcement.
Asked what he would recommend the National Guard focus on in Memphis, Young suggested tasks such as support for big events, including traffic assistance.
Louisiana plans A draft plan to activate 1,000 National Guard troops in the state calls for deployment to New Orleans and other urban centers to augment local law enforcement.
Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged that the city’s future includes federal law authorities doing what is more basic local work.
Tennessee’s Nashville. (AP) — The mayor of Memphis said on Saturday that the first concrete confirmation he had received that the National Guard would be deployed to the city on an anti-crime mission was President Donald Trump’s television announcement the previous day.
Mayor Paul Young stated on CNN that he found out the proposal was being considered when Republican Gov. He was notified earlier in the week by Bill Lee’s office. According to the Democratic mayor, discussions went on all week long, and he had been discussing the potential for increased law enforcement presence through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI.
Then, on Fox News on Friday morning, Trump made his announcement. He declared that Memphis is “deeply troubled” and that “we’re going to fix that just like we did Washington,” where he increased federal law enforcement and sent out the National Guard.
Young responded, “No, that was the confirmation,” when asked on CNN if he had “hard confirmation” prior to Trump’s announcement. “”.
Days earlier, Memphis police said that during the first eight months of 2025, there were decreases in all of the major crime categories when compared to the same period in prior years. According to police, murder hit a six-year low and overall crime hit a 25-year low.
However, Memphis has long struggled with recalcitrant issues related to gun violence. The city recorded a record 390 homicides in 2023.
Additionally, the city continues to deal with the aftermath of Tyre Nichols’ death in January 2023 following his beating at the hands of Memphis police officers. Following Nichols’ death, the Department of Justice, then led by President Joe Biden, conducted an investigation in December and discovered numerous civil rights violations in the police department. Excessive force, unlawful traffic stops, and disproportionate targeting of Black individuals in the predominantly Black city were among the findings.
In May, the department retracted those findings, now under the Trump administration.
Specifics are still up in the air.
According to the governor, the guard’s role in efforts to combat crime is still being worked out. According to his spokesperson Elizabeth Lane Johnson, Lee and Trump spoke on Friday and will speak again early next week. Along with state and local law enforcement, the FBI has been conducting an operation that “has already arrested hundreds of the most violent offenders,” and the governor stated that the deployment would give the operation more force. “”.
Details about the precise role of the troops, their number and timing, and other matters are still unknown, the mayor stated on Saturday. Next week, he hopes to find out more.
In response to a question about what he would advise the National Guard to concentrate on in Memphis, Young proposed duties like traffic assistance and event support. Additionally, he stated that they could help with neighborhood “beautification” or assisting law enforcement with camera monitoring and contacting backup when they witness criminal activity. “”.
The mayor is not “happy” about deployment.
Trump’s claim that the mayor is “happy” about the National Guard’s arrival has been refuted by Young. He has declared that he did not request a deployment and that he does not believe it will lower crime. However, he admitted that the city has continued to rank highly on too many “bad lists,” and now that the deployment has been decided, he wants to “drive how they engage in our city.”. “”.
The National Guard was stationed in Memphis in 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Young said, adding that he understands the community’s fears. was killed.
Here, we don’t want to conjure up those same feelings,” Young stated.
the functions of the National Guard.
The guard also assisted in enforcing integration in Clinton’s schools in 1956.
Its troops have been sent in to help during numerous major disasters, including hurricane Helene, wildfires, winter storms, and floods. They performed a variety of tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic, including assisting with testing.
During tense times, like the demonstrations in Washington and on the state Capitol grounds following the murder of George Floyd, they have also been present in Tennessee and other places. They were used by the governor for a number of Trump-led projects, such as visiting the southern border, performing administrative duties for the state’s federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and going back to Washington as part of the president’s most recent crime-centered mission.
Plans from Louisiana.
In order to support local law enforcement, a draft plan to activate 1,000 National Guard troops in the state calls for their deployment to New Orleans and other urban areas. The Washington Post obtained a plan that called for the deployment of troops in the event that GOP Gov. Jeff Landry asks for federal support.
Rep. In response, Troy Carter, a Democrat representing the New Orleans region, stated that there is no emergency that would warrant deploying troops on the city’s streets and that crime rates are at their lowest levels in decades.
More resources “could make a real difference,” Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy told NOLA . com, adding that Camp Beauregard, a National Guard installation, is located close to his city.
Trump told Fox News on Friday that troops could “fix up” Louisiana’s crime problems, which prompted the release of the draft plan.
An email requesting comment was sent to Landry’s office by the Associated Press. Last week, State Attorney General Liz Murrill declared her complete support for Trump’s troop deployment proposal.
The Washington scene…
There are roughly 2,000 National Guard members from seven states and the District of Columbia stationed in Washington. Despite Trump’s emergency order expiring because Congress did not renew it, guard units are still in place.
In many public areas frequented by tourists and visitors, such as Union Station and multiple metro rail platforms, there is still a noticeable presence of armed troops.
The situation is slightly different in Washington than in Memphis because the guard is directly under the president’s authority due to the city’s status as a federal one.
It is unclear if Memphis could receive troops from outside the state; governors are in charge of their state’s guards.
According to Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, the city’s future depends on federal law enforcement carrying out more fundamental local tasks. In an effort to improve coordination and communication between those agencies and the Metropolitan Police, Bowser established an operation center.
The Immigration and Naturalization Service, which has detained hundreds of people, is the one organization she has left out of discussions about collaboration.
Homeland Security Investigations agents, the FBI, and the Metropolitan Police worked side by side to provide security at a high school football game on Friday. The same day, the mayor and school officials announced that attendance would be adjusted due to fan violence at previous games.
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