LDF Condemns Memoranda Targeting Memphis

Yesterday, President Trump directed the Secretary of War to request that the Governor of Tennessee deploy Tennessee's National Guard troops to Memphis. The Memoranda also creates a federal taskforce to use aggressive and counterproductive strategies that have historically harmed Black and Brown communities to address a purported crime emergency, despite the Memphis Police Department's recent announcement that crime in Memphis is at a 25 year low.

In response, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) Director of Strategic Initiatives Jin Hee Lee issued the following statement:

"Once again, President Trump misleads the public with inaccurate claims of a purported crime emergency to justify the irresponsible use of federal resources, including National Guard troops, to occupy a city against the will of its local leaders and its residents. This is a brazen abuse of power and a chilling continuation of an authoritarian strategy, bent on imperiling the public safety of yet another city led by a Black mayor with a substantial population of Black residents.

"History has shown that aggressive law enforcement strategies, like saturating neighborhoods with officers or employing militarized tactics and resources, do not improve public safety, but instead create an atmosphere of fear - especially among Black residents. We condemn this continued attack on Black communities, this time in Memphis, and the misuse of military resources for the administration's own improper ends."

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation's first civil rights law organization. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957-although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.