{"id":464,"date":"2026-05-13T11:03:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/13\/memphis-residents-claim-harassment-arrest-and-abuse-by-trump-ordered-memphis-safe-task-force\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T11:03:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:03:30","slug":"memphis-residents-claim-harassment-arrest-and-abuse-by-trump-ordered-memphis-safe-task-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/13\/memphis-residents-claim-harassment-arrest-and-abuse-by-trump-ordered-memphis-safe-task-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Memphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Four Memphis residents are suing U.S. and Tennessee officials, saying they have been harassed, arrested and physically mistreated for engaging in First Amendment protected activities by observing and recording law enforcement agents in their city.<\/p>\n

Read more Inside the furor plaguing Democratic National Committee leader Ken Martin<\/a><\/p>\n

A lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court targets the Memphis Safe Task Force, comprising agents from 13 federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered to the city to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard.<\/p>\n

Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The lawsuit says the task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the professed name of crime control, Task Force agents have stopped, menaced, and arrested Memphians engaging in routine, day-to-day activities,\u201d the lawsuit states. \u201cIn response, Memphians encountering Task Force agents in public, including Plaintiffs, have stopped to gather information about and record Task Force activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emails from The Associated Press to the U.S. Department of Justice and a spokesperson for the task force were not returned on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Read more US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal officials including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, former Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, have visited Memphis to praise the task force. Miller in October predicted the surge in law enforcement would make the city \u201csafer than any of you could ever possibly imagine\u201d and that \u201cbusinesses and investment are going to pour in, and Memphis will be richer than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task force is part of a larger effort by Trump to use National Guard troops and surge federal law enforcement in cities, particularly ones controlled by Democrats. Following troop deployments in the District of Columbia and Los Angeles, he referred to Portland, Oregon, as \u201cwar-ravaged\u201d and threatened apocalyptic force in Chicago. Speaking last year to U.S. military leaders in Virginia, Trump proposed using cities as training grounds for the armed forces.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The lawsuit accuses task force agents of systematically retaliating against the four plaintiffs and other members of the public engaged in similar observations. It claims the threats and harassment are the \u201cdirect result of federal policy\u201d that views observing federal agents performing their duties in public as a threat of harm to those agents. The lawsuit also claims that federal and state officials have failed to train their agents not to retaliate against citizens engaged in First Amendment protected activities.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit asks the court to declare that retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity is unconstitutional and to prohibit the agents from further retaliation. It also targets a Tennessee law that requires observers to stand at least 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from law enforcement officers, if they are warned to do so, or face arrest. The suit asks the court to declare unconstitutional the use of the \u201cHalo Law\u201d against defendants who are not interfering with agents or impeding their duties.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump administration freezes new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Tennessee targets the Memphis Safe Task Force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nMemphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force - Los Angeles Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/losangelesmovinginsider.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/13\/memphis-residents-claim-harassment-arrest-and-abuse-by-trump-ordered-memphis-safe-task-force\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force - 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