November 4, 2025
In September, President Donald Trump signed the chief order “Restoring Regulation and Order in Memphis.”
An investigation from ProPublica and native nonprofit information group MLK50 paints a grim actuality for Black residents in Memphis, who say they face harassment and racial profiling from President Donald Trump’s security drive.
On Oct. 14, Memphis resident Reggie Williams, who’s Black, posted on Fb that he was harassed by the Memphis Police Division and males claiming to be with Immigration and Customs Enforcement when he was strolling to a retailer.
The incident occurred precisely one month after Trump signed an government order titled “Restoring Regulation and Order in Memphis,” which established the “Memphis Protected Process Drive,” deploying nationwide guard items, FBI, DEA, and ATF brokers together with state and native businesses to “fight violent and avenue crime within the metropolis.”
In his government order, Trump mentioned FBI knowledge present that Memphis had the best price of violent crime per capita within the U.S., involving homicide, robberies, and aggravated assault.
Residents like Williams assume the duty drive is racial profiling Black folks. “In case you are something however white, you might be an unlawful. These folks have misplaced their f*****g minds.”
His recommendation to Black Memphis residents: “Carry your ID, passport, delivery certificates, and social safety on you always.”
Williams is one of some tales in ProPublica and MLK50′s investigation. A ride-share driver was stopped for not carrying a seatbelt, regardless of carrying one. A pastor was pulled over for “wanting misplaced” after leaving a church perform. Officers apprehended a 72-year-old man in his gown and underwear in a case of mistaken id.
The U.S. Marshals Service, the group main the duty drive, denied the accounts from Black residents.
“The suggestion that our federal legislation enforcement officers are racially profiling residents shouldn’t be based in actuality and undermines the credibility and security of the Process Drive Officers who needs to be counseled for the distinctive work they’re doing to maintain this group protected!” Ryan Guay, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service, wrote in an announcement.
What’s taking place in Memphis —a metropolis with a historical past of poor policing —shouldn’t be an anomaly beneath the Trump administration.
Not Simply Memphis Black Residents
The Trump administration has deployed navy and federal legislation enforcement businesses to numerous cities, a lot of that are closely Democratic and have Black leaders.
Over the summer time, Trump declared against the law emergency in Washington, D.C., which led to the momentary federal management of the Metropolitan Police Division and the deployment of Nationwide Guard members. Earlier, the Trump administration deployed practically 4,000 California Nationwide Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests following federal immigration raids.
Each cities have Black ladies as mayors.
The Trump administration has focused Chicago, whose mayor, Brandon Johnson, is Black. In a single high-profile incident, ICE brokers detained residents of an house constructing in Chicago for hours, even separating youngsters from their dad and mom, in an in a single day raid. U.S. residents, together with Black residents, had been apprehended in the course of the immigration crackdown.
In the previous couple of weeks, Trump deployed Nationwide Guard members to Portland, Oregon, a metropolis that overwhelmingly supported Kamala Harris in the course of the 2024 presidential election.
“Trump’s actions signify a disgusting abuse of energy and a calculated try to intimidate Black and brown Individuals,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, wrote in an October 16 assertion. “Weaponizing the navy and ICE in opposition to our communities shouldn’t be about security; it’s about management. The NAACP won’t stand by as our communities are handled as enemy combatants in our personal nation.”
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