UPDATE: Friday morning on Fox & Friends, President Donald Trump said troops will be coming to Memphis.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young was told earlier this week that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and President Donald Trump “were considering deploying the National Guard and other resources to Memphis,” Young said in a written statement, officially confirming rumors that have spread across Memphis.
The confirmation that Trump has considered deployment to Memphis comes after the president threatened to send military forces to other Democrat-led cities, a move that some legal and military leaders have raised concerns as threatening democracy and possibly disregarding state laws.
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This month, a federal judge in California ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer was illegal. In Washington, D.C., the district’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit to stop the deployment of the National Guard troops, calling it “illegal.”
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris described his concerns about these deployments in a statement on Facebook Thursday, saying, “I’ve been to countries where there isn’t freedom but there is military presence, where you can’t protest, and officials stay in power for as long as they want. That’s not America. Sadly, with the occupation of US cities, we are far down this road of losing our democracy.”
Harris did not directly mention the plans for Memphis in his post.
It’s unclear now whether or when the National Guard will be deployed to Memphis, but a source familiar with Young’s conversations told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism that it is likely to occur in the next two to four weeks.
Young says financial resources, patrol officers needed
In his written statement, Young said he is “committed to working to ensure any efforts strengthen our community and build on our progress.”
And despite the concerns about the erosion of democracy, Young framed his response around crime, which Trump has used to argue for these deployments.
“We agree with Governor Lee that effective support for Memphis comes through focused initiatives that deliver results like we have seen with the FBI, state troopers, and other law enforcement partnerships. What we need most are financial resources for intervention and prevention, additional patrol officers, and case support to strengthen MPD’s investigations,” he said. “Memphis is already making measurable progress in bringing down crime, and we support initiatives that help accelerate the pace of the work our officers, community partners, and residents are doing every day.”
Earlier this week, the Memphis Police Department touted historic crime reductions, reporting decreases across all major categories in the first eight months of 2025.
Some of Tennessee’s congressional Republicans — including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles and U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger — have called for the national guard to be deployed in Memphis and Nashville. In a letter to Lee sent Wednesday, State Rep. Torrey Harris blasted the idea that Memphis is a dangerous city that requires “intimidation by military force.”
“The idea that a federal figure would even threaten to deploy armed troops into our neighborhoods is nothing short of horrific. It is a slap in the face to our democracy, our state sovereignty, and to the very residents who already struggle daily against systemic disinvestment,” he wrote.
Tennessee Code addresses the governor’s power to order the National Guard into active service. That power comes “in case of invasion, disaster, insurrection, riot, attack, or combination” and “not to exceed the duration of the emergency for which they may be called.”
Alternately, the governing body of a city or county — in this case the Memphis City Council or Shelby County Board of Commissioners — can request by resolution that the governor call on the National Guard if “there is a breakdown of law and order, a grievous breach of the peace, a riot, resistance to process of this state, or disaster, or imminent danger thereof.”
Keedran Franklin, a small business owner and professional organizer, said he spoke with Young on Wednesday and that Young told him he doesn’t want the National Guard to come to Memphis, and that he’d asked Lee to hold off on sending them.
Franklin said the deployment of the National Guard to Memphis could cause “some type of chaos and panic.”
“What happens here is they start federalizing the police departments even more, start federalizing these local agencies even more. People’s charges will start being federal more,” Franklin said. “It’s dangerous for us, but I think it’s time for everybody to say something, to stand with each other.”
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
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