Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Tuesday morning that “our operation in Memphis is now underway, and we’re just getting started,” saying that nine arrests had already been made and two “illegal guns” seized.
Bondi said 219 officers were “special deputized,” or granted federal law enforcement authority, and a “Joint Operation Center” had been set up. She thanked multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Last week, the ACLU of Tennessee sent a letter to Young and Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis “demanding strict compliance” with the Kendrick Consent Decree, an agreement between the ACLU and the city dating back to 1978 that aims to protect the First Amendment rights of Memphis residents from interference by local authorities.
“Federal and National Guard involvement in local law enforcement doesn’t diminish these protections,” ACLU Tennessee Legal Director Stella Yarbrough said in reference to the decree. “In fact, it makes strict compliance more critical than ever. Memphis police cannot use federal coordination as a backdoor to conduct the very surveillance activities this decree was designed to prevent.”
The city of Memphis, meanwhile, launched a website where residents can log complaints and keep abreast of the presence of federal agents in the city.
It’s not a crime crackdown, it’s a fascist takeover.
Yeah, I was gonna say it’s not a crime crackdown, it’s a crime wave. What a bullshit headline. Sure wish journalistic institutions would stop repeating fascists’ rhetoric for them.
Oh look, another former bastion of serious reporting pedalling the regime’s lies.
It’s factually incorrect to call it a crime crackdown and time is capitulating to fascism.
Trumps Nazi reign of terror.
Journalists who continue to pander to the pigs should be put in the vicinity of Israel.
How much did it cost to arrest 9 people and 2 guns? Would this have happened without the extra personal? How many of this cases going to be thrown out now for not being constitutional?
The History of the Memphis’ Kendrick Consent Decree
As feds descend on Memphis, local advocates prepare to respond
The Kendrick Consent decree was enacted in 1978 in response to revelations that Memphis police had used a domestic intelligence unit to surveille and target civil rights leaders. The decree was updated in 2020 to include safeguards against police use of modern surveillance technology.
The agreement between the ACLU and Memphis specifically bars cooperation by Memphis police with federal and state agencies in activities that violate First Amendment rights, including sharing information such as photographs, recordings and social media posts of individuals engaged in lawful protests, absent a legitimate law enforcement reason, according to Stella Yarbrough, ACLU-TN Legal Director
"The Kendrick Consent Decree represents nearly five decades of protection for Memphis residents’ First Amendment rights,” she said.
absent a legitimate law enforcement reason
That’s what the feds are leaning on here; they’ve decreed that the reason is legitimate.
200 extra people for 9 arrests?..
Great job guys!..
Stay away from the West Coast
I wonder why Bill Lee is not capable of managing crime in his state and he needs military to come in and take care of it.
I can’t wait for the roller coaster it will be to hear Tennessee congress members say guns are illegal and should be taken from people.
I’m honestly surprised Trump hasn’t broken out the “take the guns now and figure out due process later,” stuff yet.
Put on my klu klux klan hat
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy, please don’t look down on me
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I’m as red as a boy can beIs this the country song from Key & Peele?
its modified walking in mephis
