We’ve Spent a Year Fighting a Federal Assault on Memphis. Your City May Be Next.

Last week, Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced a new grant program that could have disastrous consequences for cities across the country. Up to four cities will split a grant of $300 million to back aggressive surges in policing modeled on the Memphis Safe Task Force, an invasion of National Guard troops and federal forces that has left our city reeling from state violence and economic fallout. Over the past year, organizers have worked tirelessly to fight back and build networks of mutual support on the ground in Memphis, Tennessee. Yet instead of scaling back federal operations as it did in Minneapolis and Chicago, the Trump administration now appears committed to deepening and expanding the disastrous model it has tested here.

The Memphis Safe Task Force was formed through a presidential memorandum on September 15, 2025, but before it was officially established, rumors were already spreading throughout Memphis about Trump potentially sending in the National Guard and what that would look like. We saw in real time the fear and concern people had of a possible federal occupation. With little information shared by local media, misinformation began spreading like wildfire. In desperation, I called Memphis Mayor Paul Young myself to confirm the correct information and help ease people’s anxiety.

Local elected officials also began speaking in opposition to the National Guard’s imminent descent on Memphis. These included State Rep. Torrey Harris, who sent a letter to Gov. Bill Lee on September 10, and City Council members JB Smiley Jr. and Jerri Green, who made statements opposing the National Guard’s deployment and held a press conference with community partners.

At one point it felt like the beginning of the COVID outbreak all over again, with folks sharing and resharing long text messages with details that had not yet been confirmed and spreading rumors that road blocks would be set up in the city.

We started seeing Trump and other White House officials in the news talk about bringing the National Guard to Memphis on September 10. At the time, Governor Lee had not requested the National Guard and, when asked about it, stated he did not think it was necessary. But just a week later, he stood in the White House with Trump and signed a memorandum to form the Memphis Safe Task Force. Lee then ordered units of the Tennessee National Guard to join the Memphis task force.

After the announcement of the task force, local organizers and groups in Memphis immediately began rapid-response efforts, launching the “Free the 901” campaign on September 18, with more than 20 local and statewide organizations. Our goal was to provide real-time updates to our community, education on what the National Guard was and what the task force would be allowed to do, and know-your-rights information so that people could be informed and could protect themselves.

The rapid-response infrastructure we developed built on an existing organization, Vecindarios 901, that was already running a hotline in response to the increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in Memphis after Trump’s second inauguration.

“We knew that this was going to be targeting innocent immigrant families, and then with the layer of them being in Memphis, which is a predominantly Black city, we were also afraid of, you know, an increased targeting of our Black immigrant neighbors as well as our Latino community members,” said Maria Oceja, a co-founder of Vecindarios 901.

Another group that was central to our response was the Immigrant Pantry, run through Indivisible Memphis. The effort started as just a small group of moms wanting to support immigrant families during this time. They had heard stories from immigrant mothers who were afraid to leave their homes for weeks at a time — their kids missing school out of fear of being taken by ICE, and family members being abducted at an increasingly alarming rate.

During the first week of the National Guard task force presence, the Immigrant Pantry made 32 deliveries; now it is averaging 56 deliveries a week. The need continues to increase as the task force continues operating in the city. The group also purchased toys and coloring books for the youth they were encountering who were experiencing trauma in real time. Most had witnessed their family members be taken, and being able to provide them with a toy for comfort was another way they hoped to make an impact.

Our rapid-response organizing is just one part of a massive community effort in Memphis, but that effort hasn’t been amplified as much as the opposition in cities like Chicago or Minnesota. Part of that is because early on, the Trump administration and Governor Lee both pushed the narrative that we wanted this here in Memphis. The other reason the resistance here hasn’t been as visible is deeper: fear. The level of protest that you see in other cities is not realistic for Memphis because of the level of fear people have of being targeted.

This task force has been going to people’s homes to issue warrants, violently destroying doors and windows, and scaring children by showing up in SWAT gear and with tanks. This aggressive and careless approach has resulted in the killing of several community members, one of which occurred while serving a warrant. Darrin Pigram was working when officers violently approached him in Burger King with long guns drawn while customers and other employees were inside, immediately creating an unsafe environment. The death of Jonah Neal occurred during a mental health crisis. Instead of sending the mental health response team, armed military officers showed up and Neal was killed.

“I don’t feel safe with the National Guard and the task force being here in Memphis,” said Amiya Johnson, a north Memphis resident and local organizer. “I live off Jackson Avenue and work close by. And when going to work, I’m seeing multiple police officers, multiple state troopers surveilling, and it doesn’t make me feel safe. It makes me feel like I have to hold my breath and brace myself for possible violence.”

The task force has taken a toll on the economy as well. Memphis restaurants have struggled, with the Tennessee Lookout reporting a drop in business of 30 to 40 percent. Some businesses have had to cut hours from full-time to part-time to adjust for the loss in revenue. Downtown businesses have seen a drop of up to 50 percent in traffic. Joe Calhoun, who operates the Withers Collection Museum and Gallery, told the Lookout that Beale Street, the city’s historic center of entertainment and dining, is completely dead due to the National Guard presence. The economic impact is being felt throughout the entire city.

As other red state cities seek to follow the Memphis model, organizers should build on the lessons our community has learned from a year of resisting it.

For organizers in red states, it can be hard to organize effectively when people don’t think our city is worth fighting for due to the political environment around us. But we need more attention on what’s happening in Memphis, because the experiment Trump and our GOP state government are running in our city will soon be exported around the country.

The Department of Justice’s new grant program solicits cities willing to adopt Memphis-style police surges on the condition that they adopt a maximum cruelty approach to policing. Cities are invited to apply for $300 million in grant funding that will be split among four finalist cities. But to apply, cities must agree to federal immigration enforcement requests and enact changes to anti-homelessness rules requiring the enforcement of prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping, loitering, and squatting — with the warning that they could potentially have to repay millions of dollars if there is a surge in violent crime or civil unrest.

“If you have $300 million to give in grants for more policing, you could give that to building homes for those homeless people you’re trying to criminalize,” said Johnson.

The grant guidelines also require applicant cities to have a variety of authorities and government agencies formally sign on as a condition of approval, including the mayor, sheriff, and city council or county commission. This is another nod toward changes in response to the deployment in Memphis. When the National Guard and Memphis Safe Task Force arrived, multiple elected officials — including the county mayor, state representatives, and city council and county commission members — came out against it.

Even with the task force still operating in the city, organizers have continued to push back on the federal intervention, support the needs of the Memphis community through mutual aid, and call out the dangerous behavior of the Memphis Safe Task Force. As other red state cities seek to follow the Memphis model, organizers should build on the lessons our community has learned from a year of resisting it.