A “small” group of National Guard commanders are on the ground in Memphis to prepare for a larger contingent expected to arrive Friday, but the troops will not take part in law enforcement activities, local officials said.
“In a few days we’ll see the first group of individuals come to our city,” Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis told Memphis City Council members Tuesday. Davis didn’t say how many members of the National Guard were set to arrive.
She said “a small contingency of commanders” in Memphis are organizing lodging and other logistics for additional troops that will arrive “it looks like maybe October 10,” Chief Davis said.
National Guard members deployed to Memphis will not conduct law enforcement activities, according to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris.
“This concession that troops will not be in a law enforcement capacity is a partial recognition that the Tennessee constitution does not give the Tennessee Governor or any state official the power to invade Tennessee communities with troops of any kind,” Harris said.
“We will continue to make the case to Governor Lee that he can stand up to Trump and protect Tennessee communities from ever having to see any Guardsman on the ground whatsoever,” he said.
The Memphis Safe Task Force, a joint effort involving more than 20 local, state, and federal agencies, has been actively deployed to work alongside local police in Tennessee’s second-most populous city since September 29.
More than 700 task force members are already working in the city, Davis said Tuesday.