MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Tennessee National Guard will keep supporting a crime-fighting task force ordered by President Donald Trump in Memphis after a judge blocked the troops from operating in the city, but she kept the ruling paused while the state appeals, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said Tuesday.
Davidson County Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal issued the order Monday as part of a lawsuit filed by Democratic state and local officials who contend that the Republican governor cannot deploy the Tennessee National Guard for civil unrest unless there is rebellion or invasion. Even then, they argue, it would require a request by local officials amid a “breakdown of law and order” and action by Tennessee lawmakers, according to state laws cited by the plaintiffs.
The judge concluded that the governor’s power as commander-in-chief of the National Guard “is not unfettered.”
“There is no rebellion or invasion currently taking place in Memphis,” the judge wrote.
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However, the judge put the order on hold for at least five days, so that the government has time to file an “immediate application for permission to appeal,” without providing her reasoning for that timeline.
In a statement Tuesday, Lee spokesperson Elizabeth Lane Johnson said the state will appeal and Guard troops will remain in place during the appeal, per the judge’s order.
Lee has not issued a specific written order deploying the troops, the judge said, adding that the only document in the court record is a press release saying the Guard would be sent to Memphis.
In the statement, Lee’s spokesperson said Memphis is experiencing “a violent crime emergency that the state must address.”
“There’s no question these public safety efforts must continue,” Johnson said.
For years, Memphis has dealt with high violent crime, including assaults, carjackings and homicides. While this year’s statistics show improvement in several categories, including murders, many acknowledge that violence remains a problem.
Trump announced in September that the National Guard would be deployed to combat crime in Memphis alongside authorities from a slew of federal agencies as part of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force. The task force, which includes hundreds of personnel attached to about 30 federal and state law enforcement agencies and Memphis police, has made more than 2,500 arrests since it began operating in late September.
Troops that arrived on Oct. 10 have been patrolling neighborhoods and commercial areas of Memphis, including near the iconic Pyramid in downtown, wearing camouflage and protective vests that say “military police,” with guns in holsters. Guard members have no power to make arrests or conduct searches.
City of Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, said he never requested that the Guard come to his city. But after Trump made the announcement and Lee agreed, Young, who is not involved in the lawsuit, and others have said they wanted the task force to focus on targeting violent offenders.
Lee has said the National Guard would “play a critical support role” for local law enforcement. Moskal, the judge, found that “the National Guard’s limited role as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force is to serve a support and deterrence function.”
“That role does not appear to be critical to the Memphis Safe Task Force’s mission of fighting violent crime,” she wrote.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti also confirmed an appeal is coming, saying the case presents legal questions that have ramifications “for all Tennesseans for centuries to come.”
The plaintiffs include Lee Harris, the mayor of Shelby County, where Memphis is located. Harris argues that the Guard’s presence is being used to cause fear in residents, and it damages the city’s reputation.
As of Nov. 13, about 140 to 180 Guard personnel were on the ground, according to the Memphis Police Department. The total will soon increase to about 350 troops, the department said, but it was not immediately clear if the judge’s order will affect those numbers.
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