Stockard on the Stump: National Guard could roam Memphis streets for a year

A memo from U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee indicates the federal government will fund National Guard troops in Memphis through Sept. 2026. (Photo: Karen Pulfer-Focht/Tennessee Lookout)

Tennessee National Guard soldiers could be patrolling Memphis for up to a year, lending credence to the governor’s prediction that the crime task force in Memphis could be permanent.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth notified Gov. Bill Lee in a Sept. 23 letter that the U.S. Department of Defense is prepared to authorize and fund up to 1,000 Tennessee National Guard personnel to work with the Memphis Safe Task Force through September 2026.

“Tennessee, particularly in Memphis, is currently facing a convergence of public safety threats that exceed the capacity of local law enforcement agencies,” Hegseth, a Sumner County resident, said in the letter.

The Lookout obtained the letter in a public records request for communications between the Trump administration and Lee’s people, most of which the state rejected as falling under attorney-client privilege. 

Despite a major crime reduction in the first part of 2025, Hegseth said Memphis’ violent crime rates remain among the nation’s highest and local law enforcement has reported difficulty staffing the force. All of that is compounded by the city’s location along interstates, making it a distribution hub for narcotics trafficking and organized crime, Hegseth said. 

Tennessee National Guard personnel started patrolling in Memphis as part of a federal, state and local crime task force about a month ago. Lee said recently he believes the crime-fighting surge should “last forever.”

Unarmed Guard personnel, who are mainly walking the streets and talking to people, are considered a godsend by some and a waste of time and money by others.. 

A group of state and local officials responded by filing suit over the deployment last week, saying it violates the Tennessee Constitution.

A representative of Democracy Forward, a nonprofit group handling the lawsuit, said the mobilization is a “direct violation of the state Constitution.” The Guard shouldn’t be deployed unless a rebellion or invasion is taking place, and even then, the local government has to request it or the legislature has to approve it, attorney Yenisey Rodriguez said.

Democracy Forward represents Shelby County mayor in National Guard lawsuit against governor

But Hegseth wrote in his letter to Lee that National Guard personnel would be operating under a status that supports the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security in Memphis “consistent with the Posse Comitatus Act.” The act generally prohibits federal forces from being used for law enforcement, but Hegseth said it doesn’t apply to the National Guard in this case, “allowing them to engage in law enforcement operations under the authorities of the requesting Federal agencies.” 

The secretary added that his office expects the departments of Justice and Homeland Security will request support for law enforcement presence in high-crime neighborhoods, as well as assistance with narcotics interdiction and logistical and communications support with local agencies.

Asked about a potential year-long stay by the Guard, state Rep. Jesse Chism, a Memphis Democrat, said he doesn’t think the soldiers are needed at all, much less for a year.

“The work that I’ve heard of them doing is mostly of a support nature, and that they are not the ones taking the dangerous criminals off of our streets. I think their purpose in our city is more to make a political statement than anything else.”

“I continue to believe that a better course of action would be to take the funding we are spending on the National Guard and investing it in the men and women of the Memphis Police Department who were already making a difference in our community,” Chism said.

More than likely, though, it could go on “forever, forever, forever …”

“Come on and tell me who are you”

Republican nominee Matt Van Epps launched an ad this week attacking his opponent, Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn, calling her a “woke liberal” and castigating her for chasing federal agents and state troopers during a summer sweep of South Nashville, an area heavily populated with immigrants.

It’s the first real salvo for the 7th Congressional District seat vacated by Mark Green.

Behn responded by telling the Lookout, “I’m not surprised his first ad is negative because he doesn’t want to talk about rising healthcare costs or releasing the Epstein files.”

Truth be told, Van Epps hasn’t talked about anything with the Lookout, despite repeated efforts to see where he stands on issues ranging from a federal bill to keep SNAP (formerly food stamps) from lapsing, the constitutionality of the federal buildup in Memphis, inflation and economic uncertainty and how he plans to maintain momentum in the race heading toward the Dec. 2 special election.

The Van Epps campaign got so busy it forgot to answer the latter queries the Lookout sent by email last week. Then Van Epps refused to talk to a Lookout reporter this week before a Tennessee Roundtable conference at the State Library and Archives. 

These were not tough questions designed to trick the candidate. But alas, we must figure he’s aligning himself with President Donald Trump on every topic, since he adopted the “MAGA Matt” mantra during the Republican primary.

Behn, on the other hand, is more than willing to respond to questions, most likely because she’s playing from behind in a red district.

Asked if she supported a Republican-backed emergency plan to save SNAP benefits in November, Behn said both parties in Washington need to “get their act together” and reopen the government, fund the food program and stop the “spike” in healthcare costs.

Some states are responding to the emergency by suing to renew SNAP. Others are trying to come up with the money. Tennessee set up a website telling people where they might be able to go to find food.

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is urging people to help. Otherwise, that Thanksgiving turkey is going to be mighty lean.

Where do we go from here?

Republican Rep. Mary Littleton of Dickson announced this week she will not seek re-election next year after consulting with her family and physician. She has spent most of her 13 years in the General Assembly working on children’s issues.

Likewise, Democratic Rep. Johnny Shaw of Bolivar has said he will not run for re-election, ending a 20-plus-year run in the legislature. Bolivar Mayor Julian McTizic is running for the seat as a Republican along with several Democrats, including Andrea Bond Johnson, a financial advisor who has twice run against Rep. Chris Hurt in House District 82.

Shaw, who often goes back to his preaching roots, objected to making the Bible the state’s official book.

Case dismissed

U.S. District Court Judge Eli Richardson dismissed state Rep. Justin Jones’ lawsuit against House Speaker Cameron Sexton and three staff members over expulsion and ensuing punishment for violating House rules. (Since when did decorum amount to a hill of beans in that joint?)

Jones filed the suit claiming, in part, his constitutional rights to free speech and due process were violated in the expulsion and then when he was removed from a committee and prohibited from speaking on the House floor for violating new rules adopted in 2024.

Richardson found that Jones, a Nashville Democrat, didn’t have standing in his complaint against House Chief Clerk Tammy Letzler, who notified him about the penalties, or House Sergeant at Arms Bobby Trotter, who turned off his keycard to Cordell Hull entry.

Tennessee representative pushes lawsuit against House speaker

The judge did determine that he had standing to sue Sexton and Assistant Chief Clerk and Parliamentarian Daniel Hicks. But then Richardson found they had legislative immunity to all of Jones’ claims and tossed the lawsuit.

For those whose memory is getting worse than mine, Jones was half of the duo expelled for taking over the House floor in an anti-gun protest following the mass shooting at The Covenant School in 2023. (Rep. Gloria Johnson narrowly escaped expulsion when Republicans’ video showed her humming and twiddling her thumbs while Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson shouted and used a bullhorn to fire up the balcony audience that day.)

Sexton and the Republican-controlled House adopted new rules the following session to control public entrance to the balconies and keep disturbances down. It led to Jones’ statement that Sexton was “drunk with power,” which didn’t exactly endear him to the speaker. His seat on the Government Operations Committee was subsequently vacated, and he lost House time, which affected his state benefits. The judge, though, decided Jones couldn’t show enough personal injury because he’s back on the committee.

Clearly, the rules were designed to stop Jones, Pearson and those dratted rabble-rousers from regaining any semblance of footing on the House floor. But the judge determined the rules were adopted by the entire House, not Hicks or Sexton.

It should be noted that these rules led to off-the-record discussions during House sessions to decide the outcome of indiscretions. Someone pointed out these little rules parsings are worse than NFL video reviews because viewers don’t even have a chance to go to the fridge for another beer.
Jones federal case
“Weird scenes inside the gold mine / Ride the highway west.” *

* The Doors, “The end”