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Memphis National Guard Shooting Rattles Task Force Future
The fatal shooting of a 20-year-old by National Guard soldiers raises legal and political risks for the Memphis Safe Task Force, with investigations and local backlash mounting.
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Tennessee authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man by two National Guard soldiers deployed to Memphis as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force. The incident happened around 4 a.m. Sunday near Ida B. Wells Avenue and Union Avenue in downtown Memphis.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the slain suspect as Tyrin Johnson, a Tennessee State University student. Memphis police officers were chasing Johnson, allegedly armed with a handgun, when National Guard soldiers on patrol joined the foot pursuit. “For reasons under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in two National Guard soldiers firing upon Johnson, striking and killing him,” the TBI said in a statement.
The Memphis Police Department gave a slightly different account. Officers responded to a call of shots fired and saw a male with a handgun flee on foot. “During the pursuit, the male turned toward NG members with his weapon. Tennessee National Guard soldiers discharged their weapons, striking the male,” the department said.
The shooting is at least the fourth officer-involved incident involving the task force, which began in September under a Trump executive order aimed at curbing violent crime through “hyper-vigilant policing, aggressive prosecution, complex investigations, financial enforcement and large-scale saturation of besieged neighborhoods with law enforcement personnel.” The U.S. Marshals Service last month said the task force had made more than 10,000 arrests in roughly nine months.
The risk for the task force is now layered. Legal liability from the Johnson family is almost certain. Political backlash from local Democrats, already opposed to the deployment, could accelerate calls to end the city's cooperation. State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat running for a U.S. House seat, called on Memphis Mayor Paul Young to end the city's partnership with what he labeled the “Memphis Unsafe Task Force” and for Gov. Bill Lee to “send the National Guard home where they belong.” Pearson accused the Trump administration of sending the National Guard to “take over cities like Memphis and Chicago” and called the project “racist from day one.”