Tennessee Rep. Justin J. Pearson blasts Trump’s Memphis federal ‘occupation,’ says Black businesses and residents are suffering

As the Trump administration continues to deploy federal agents and the National Guard in Memphis as part of its stated goal of reducing crime, Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson is blasting President Donald Trump‘s federal surge for negatively impacting the majority-Black city.

Following U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s visit to Memphis on Monday to meet with officers and tout the perceived success of the Trump-created Memphis Safe Task Force, Pearson slammed the ongoing operation, arguing that Bondi and the task force are “not making Memphians safer.”

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and our dedicated men and women in law enforcement, this surge in Memphis has dramatically dropped crime. The numbers tell the story themselves. They are undeniable,” said Bondi during a news conference on Monday.

The nation’s top prosecutor cited various data, including the claim that murder in Memphis was down 48% and overall crime was down 45% as a result of Trump’s federal deployment of Homeland Security officers, ICE agents, and National Guard troops. The task force and Memphis police say that more than 2,800 people have been arrested and more than 28,000 traffic citations have been issued.

Community leaders and elected officials like Pearson, who is running for Congress in 2026, have slammed the Trump administration’s federal intervention as counterproductive amid federal disinvestment in programs intended to reduce community violence.

“They are using unverifiable records to inflate their impact while we are still suffering with the lack of federal investment that could reduce poverty, provide housing, ensure healthcare, and improve education for our students,” said Pearson, 30. “Their presence has decreased tourism and negatively impacted many business owners, especially African American and Hispanic owners in our city.”

According to the Associated Press, homicides in Memphis increased 33% and aggravated assaults rose 41% from 2018 to 2024, citing data from AH Datalytics. However, those numbers were down 20% during the first nine months of this year, before Trump’s task force was established.

While other efforts to deploy the military and federal law enforcement in other cities like Chicago, Portland and Los Angeles have been met with strong resistance from those cities’ mayors and state governors, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, and Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat, have embraced or cooperated with the federal government’s operation.

“While we all want a safer city, no one–not Governor Bill Lee, Attorney General Bondi, or President Trump–has presented a plan to sustain the reported impact long term. Their claims and efforts have come at the cost of community and togetherness that makes Memphis strong,” said Pearson.

“Families have been separated by ICE, traumatized by officers at the wrong doors, and students have missed weeks of school because of fear.”

The state lawmaker added, “We need to have federal policy and interventions that help our cities, not hurt us. We need actionable plans, not performative press conferences. We need the millions of dollars funding this occupation to be millions of dollars funding poverty eradication.”