Trump deploys National Guard to Memphis, calling it a ‘replica’ of his crackdown on Washington

WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump signed an order Monday sending the National Guard into Memphis to combat crime offering another major test of the limits of presidential power by using military force in American cities With Republican Tennessee Gov Bill Lee visiting the Oval Office Trump disclosed troops would be deployed and join a special task force in the city comprised of administrators from various federal agencies including the FBI Drug Enforcement Administration Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U S Marshal s function He disclosed the goal would be to stamp out crime in a way that he says sending in the National Guard and federalizing the local police force has in Washington D C This task force will be a replica of our extraordinarily triumphant efforts here Trump declared of the District of Columbia And you ll see it s a lot of the same thing The presidential memorandum Trump signed did not include details on when troops would be deployed or exactly what his promised surge in law enforcement efforts would look like Planning is right now underway and we will continue to work closely with federal and local partners to determine the largest part effective path forward reported Lee s spokesperson Elizabeth Lane Johnson The memorandum also specified that selected out-of-state help might be available including state police in Memphis-bordering Mississippi and Arkansas and National Guard members from other states as necessary Trump stated the FBI had already stepped up its up-to-date sessions in Memphis which is majority Black and Tennessee s second-largest city and had helped reduce crime but We re sending in the big force now Shortly before Trump s announcement the White House posted on social media that the Memphis total crime rate was higher than the national average and suggested that the rate had increased since last year bucking national trends That s despite Memphis police of late reporting decreases across every major crime category in the first eight months of compared to the same period in previous years Overall crime hit a -year low while murder hit a six-year low police noted Still Memphis has dealt with stubborn gun violence problems for years In the city set a record with more than homicides Tennessee s governor embraced the troop deployment as part of a broader law enforcement surge in Memphis with Lee saying Monday that he was tired of crime holding the great city of Memphis back The state s Republican senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty joined in the Oval Office as well Trump s action followed his first announcing that he d soon be deploying the National Guard to Memphis on Friday drawing immediate pushback from its Democratic leader I did not ask for the National Guard and I don t think it s the way to drive down crime Memphis Mayor Paul Young informed a news conference Friday while acknowledging the city remained high on too a great number of bad lists Young has also noted that now the decision is made he wants to ensure he can help influence the Guard s role He mentioned possibilities such as traffic control for big events monitoring cameras for police and undertaking beautification projects At a news conference Monday a few local Democrats urged officers to consider options to oppose the deployment Tami Sawyer Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk noted the city or county could sue Speculation had centered on Chicago as Trump s next city to send in the National Guard and other federal agents But the administration has faced fierce resistance from Democratic Illinois J B Pritzker and other local administration Trump nonetheless insisted Monday We re going to be doing Chicago ostensibly next while also suggesting that government would wait and not act promptly there Speaking about a skyscraper bearing his name in the nation s third largest city Trump revealed he knew all about Chicago and had a great beautiful building I m so proud of it But you get less proud when you see all the crime he added Pressed on if he might send troops into Chicago without promotion from state and local administration the president insisted It s not going to matter to us at all We hope we have the governor s help he reported But if we don t we re doing it without him Trump has also previously stated he d be willing to send troop to New Orleans another Democrat-leaning city in a Republican-run state He mentioned New Orleans again on Monday but also singled out Baltimore and even St Louis as locales that could be in line for troop deployments eventually though he provided no details We want to save these places Trump mentioned