Four residents of Memphis, Tennessee, have filed a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of harassment during its immigration and crime crackdowns in the city.
The complaint filed Wednesday focuses on the Memphis Safety Task Force, a law enforcement initiative launched in September by President Trump in collaboration with state and local officials.
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The plaintiffs allege that operatives involved in the crackdown retaliated against local residents who engaged in activities protected by the First Amendment, such as filming arrests.
“In the name of crime control, task force officers stopped, threatened, and arrested Memphians engaged in routine activities,” the complaint says.
The complaint states that officials responded with hostility to bystanders who stopped to record the task force’s activities.
“Task Force staff members systematically retaliate against, intimidate, and harass Plaintiffs and others who are lawfully engaged in constitutionally protected information-gathering and recording activities,” the complaint alleges.
It describes threats of arrest and physical intimidation, including government vehicles swerving toward activists monitoring enforcement efforts.
The lawsuit also notes that the task force conducted about 120,000 traffic stops in the majority-black city of about 610,000 people.
The task force, created at the request of Gov. Bill Lee, includes members of the Tennessee State Troopers and Tennessee National Guard, as well as personnel from 13 federal agencies.
The complaint names acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche as defendants, as well as heads of agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The complaint also names state officials, including the leader of the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
However, the U.S. government denies any wrongdoing related to the Memphis Safety Task Force.
“We strongly oppose the allegations in the lawsuit and remain committed to fair, impartial, and professional law enforcement practices to keep Memphians and the American public safe,” the Justice Department said in a statement Wednesday.
Since taking office for his second term, Trump has frequently described leftist cities as crime-ravaged “war zones” and has carried out crackdowns in several major cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Some of these crackdowns have faced significant backlash, with critics arguing that Trump exceeded his authority as president by sending in the military in some cases without the nation’s approval.
Federal officials involved in these crackdowns are accused of disregarding civil liberties and profiling residents based on race and ethnicity.
Others testified that those monitoring or filming their activities were threatened and harassed, even though such activities were legal.
“Public recording of law enforcement activities is a core First Amendment right,” Scarlett Kim, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said in a press statement.
Her organization is representing plaintiffs in Wednesday’s lawsuit.
“Like people in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other parts of the country, Memphis residents have grabbed their cellphones and cameras to document the massive influx of law enforcement officers into their communities,” Kim said.
Hunter Demster, one of the plaintiffs, said he lives in an area with a large Hispanic population where the task force regularly stops cars.
Demster alleges he filmed one such stop and was surrounded by investigators after telling the occupants of the vehicle that they had the right not to speak to police.
“It’s a horrible feeling,” Demster said. “I didn’t do anything illegal. I used my First Amendment protected rights to hold up the phone and give them the ‘Know Your Rights’ information.”
