Memphis Mayor Paul Young did not mention the city’s cooperation with the Memphis Safe Task Force during his State of the City address on Tuesday, instead describing Memphis’ progress under his leadership in celebratory terms.
The speech was interrupted several times as attendees attempted to force the mayor to address the task force’s impact on immigrant communities.
“We’re going to come to you and bring the tension that already exists in our community to this room, where you’re trying to pretend it doesn’t exist,” said C.K. Harley, an activist with the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope. “We were heard. We were addressed. We were able to make the conversation go beyond the ‘pep rally.’”
Activists said Young’s optimistic descriptions of Memphis felt disconnected from the realities that Memphians experience daily in a city policed by President Donald Trump’s task force. At a debrief meeting after the event, they described feeling left out of the conversation.
In advance of the address, advocates with MICAH and Free the 901 presented three demands of Young’s speech:
- Announcing the end of all collaboration with the task force and asking Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who holds a county elected office, to end his office’s contract with ICE.
- Acknowledging the harm done to the Memphis community by the task force and demanding an end to pretextual traffic stops and searches without judicial warrants.
- Committing to include “substantial increased investments” in his next budget toward public transportation, affordable housing, livable wage jobs and opportunities for the community.
“Keep listening, I’m getting to it,” Young told the crowd at one point. But Young didn’t mention the task force by name during his roughly 40-minute speech, which he afterward said was a deliberate choice.
“The Memphis Safe Task Force is something that’s underway, but that’s not the future of Memphis,” Young told the media. “What the speech tonight was about the future of Memphis and where we’re going. How do we stabilize our community long term? And the way we stabilize our community long term is investment in housing, investment in our workforce, leaning into our culture and doing the things that really change the narrative and outcomes for people in our city.”
Sandra Pita, an organizer with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said Young’s descriptions of how Memphis children can play outside freely due to a decrease in crime made her angry. What, she asked, about immigrant children? Even in the performances by youth that opened the event, she said that immigrant children did not feel represented.
“We have to realize that he’s not a mayor for community in general,” Pita said. Since its arrival in Memphis on Sept. 29, the task force has made more than 6,000 arrests and detained at least 759 immigrants, according to daily reports obtained by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism via records requests. The majority of detained immigrants were charged with unlawful presence, which is not a criminal violation.
In his speech, Young praised a 40% decrease in crime since 2023, a decrease that fulfilled a promise he made two years early. Other commitments included:
- Delivering 10,000 “new affordable and market-rate homes in the core of the city” by 2030.
- Developing a workforce strategy for young people, including through paid work experiences like 3,000 paid summer jobs that will start this year.
- Launching “Memphis Music Live,” an effort to ensure that there is live music in Memphis 365 days per year.
‘What about our immigrants?’
Event organizers appeared to anticipate dissent. Attendees were met at the doors of the church with posters barring guns, signs and flyers. At one point, an officer said wearing clothing with political statements was not allowed, but that rule did not appear to be enforced. Inside, the public walked through metal detectors and past numerous security guards and law enforcement officers to enter the sanctuary.
“This address was advertised as a celebration where the community is welcome,” Harley said. “And yet, when you come in, and that level of security is at the door… when we see in the parking lot armored vehicles and idling tinted black SUVs, it’s intimidation. It’s, ‘stay in line.’”
Young’s address, which focused largely on economic opportunities and declining crime rates, was punctuated by booing, chanting and heckling.
Much of the protesting focused on immigration. When Young described the need to design “a city that works better for the people who live here today, and we want to welcome tomorrow,” someone in the crowd yelled, “What about our immigrants?”
Young then called on the crowd to clap for Memphis immigrants, saying, “We love our immigrant community, particularly the Hispanic population, given that it has been the fastest growing population in our city for the past 10 years.”
Young made no other comments about the city’s immigrant population during his speech. The mayor has repeatedly said that his goal is to work with the task force on violent crime, not on immigration. Many are skeptical of that claim, since Homeland Security agents have been seen riding in Memphis police vehicles and working with police to tap hotel registries.
“(Memphis has) been the poster child for what cooperation looks like for oppression,” said Venita Doggett, MICAH’s executive director. “We’re asking people, if they don’t agree with that, to lend their voice.”
Another advocate challenged Young’s claim that he loves the immigrant community.
“If he actually did, he would listen to us,” she said.
Protesters voice opposition
Protesters also pushed back on Young’s praise of local law enforcement.
“It’s time for us to go deeper by supporting our law enforcement efforts and our individuals that work in law enforcement,” Young said to loud boos from the crowd.
“You don’t care!” a protester yelled.
“I want to recognize some of the leadership that made the progress we have,” Young continued, asking police chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis to stand and be recognized. Davis was met with loud booing as protestors shouted “Stop working with ICE!” and “Stop kidnapping!”
Memphis’ crime rate has been dropping since a high in 2023, well before the task force arrived in the city. The mayor has been eager to credit the Memphis Police Department, although violent crime plummeted last year across the U.S., not just in Memphis.
Other issues raised by protesters included concerns about air pollution in South Memphis due to Elon Musk’s XAi. When Young mentioned home improvements in Boxtown, one protester yelled, “What about their air?”
Protester Salamander Brandy Price said she attended the event to speak out about pollution, Memphis’ police chief and ICE’s presence in the city.
“This is the real face of Memphis!” yelled Price as she was escorted, and at times dragged, out of the auditorium by six officers. She told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism that the officers tore her dress. Young addressed her from the podium, repeatedly misgendering Price, a transgender woman.
Young apologized in a written statement on Wednesday, saying it had been brought to his attention that he used the wrong pronouns when addressing Price.
“I apologize for that,” he said. “I respect her gender identity.”
Toward the end of Young’s speech, members of MICAH chanted “What about our demands?” and sang a protest song called “The People Will Rise.”
“I want people to know that even though Mayor Young’s not listening, there are a lot of us who are,” Harley added. “You have power. We don’t have to just sit by. We’ll be here, and we can make change.”
Katherine Burgess is the government accountability reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Contact her at katherine.burgess@mlk50.com
Natalie Wallington is the housing reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at natalie.wallington@mlk50.com.
This story is brought to you by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors.