US President Donald Trump, joined by Tennessee's Republican Governor Bill Lee, on Monday established a task force to take on crime in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Democratic-led city is the second to face a Trump administration crackdown on crime, following Washington, D.C. Trump has vowed to fix the city after shelving plans for a similar operation in Chicago, reportedly due to opposition from local and state officials.
Memphis' mayor, Paul Young, also has voiced opposition to the plan, arguing that crime is already falling without federal intervention. The president said on Monday, however, that Memphis is overrun with carjackings, robberies, and shootings.
We're not going to allow this kind of savagery to destroy our society anymore, Trump stated during the memorandum-signing in the Oval Office. He emphasized a step-by-step approach similar to that in D.C., claiming, We have virtually no crime in D.C. right now, and we're going to keep it that way.\
The Memphis task force will replicate efforts seen in Washington, including activation of federal agencies such as the National Guard, FBI, ICE, and ATF. Lee praised the strategy for its role in sustained crime reduction.
While Trump is focused on cities with high crime rates, legal experts have begun to question the approach of deploying federal troops. The legality of such measures is under scrutiny following a recent federal ruling declaring the deployment of troops in Los Angeles illegal.
FBI statistics reveal that Memphis suffers from some of the highest violent crime rates in the nation, provoking this latest federal response. Local residents have expressed concerns regarding the impact of National Guard troop presence on their communities.
