In September 2025, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum deploying the National Guard to patrol the streets of Memphis, Tennessee, as part of a new law enforcement initiative called the Memphis Safe Task Force. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told the task force to “police aggressively.” National Guard soldiers began patrols in October 2025. In the nine months since, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the state’s primary criminal investigative agency, has been called in to investigate the task force five separate times. Three people are dead. When Memphis lawmakers called for the release of body camera footage this week, no one could confirm whether the National Guard soldiers patrolling Memphis carry body cameras at all.
What the Task Force Is
The Memphis Safe Task Force was established by a presidential memorandum signed September 15, 2025, and titled “Restoring Law and Order in Memphis.” It is a multi-agency operation that includes the National Guard, the Drug Enforcement Administration — the federal agency that investigates drug trafficking, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Tennessee Highway Patrol, and the Memphis Police Department, among other state and local agencies. Approximately 1,472 National Guard soldiers are currently deployed in Memphis under the initiative. Trump announced at the time that he was considering Memphis as a model and that Chicago would be next. In roughly six months of operation, the task force has reported 7,342 arrests and 1,208 seized firearms. A legal challenge to the deployment was upheld by a Tennessee state appeals court in April 2026.
The July 5 Shooting
Shortly before 4 a.m. on July 5, 2026, Memphis police officers responded to reports of shots fired in downtown Memphis and spotted a man armed with a handgun. The man, later identified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as Tyrin Johnson, 20, a former student at Tennessee State University in Nashville, fled on foot. Memphis police officers and Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the task force joined the pursuit. During the chase, Johnson turned toward the soldiers with his handgun. Two National Guard soldiers fired, striking Johnson. He was pronounced dead. No law enforcement personnel were injured. At the request of 30th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has opened an investigation into the shooting. Johnson’s family has retained an attorney.
The Prior Incidents
The July 5 shooting is the latest in a series of fatal encounters involving the Memphis Safe Task Force. On May 13, 2026, Drug Enforcement Administration agents serving an arrest warrant at a Burger King in the Frayser neighborhood shot and killed Darrin Pigram, 41, who was wanted on aggravated assault and burglary charges. Task force officials said Pigram produced a firearm during the encounter. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the DEA have not confirmed that Pigram was armed. Pigram’s family said workers on the scene told them he was unarmed and called for transparency in the investigation. Approximately one week later, around May 20 or 21, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent shot 25-year-old Jonah Neal inside Neal’s home. The task force had responded to a call about Neal, who had reportedly told police he was armed and threatening to harm himself. Neal died at the scene. The official cause of death, either the agent’s gunfire or self-inflicted stab wounds, had not been determined as of the date of publication. The Neal shooting marked the fifth TBI investigation involving the task force since patrols began in October 2025.
The Body Camera Question
After the July 5 shooting, Tennessee State Senators Raumesh Akbari and London Lamar issued a joint statement calling for transparency in the TBI investigation and demanding the release of any available body camera footage and surveillance video. The question of whether body camera footage exists is unresolved. When asked about body cameras on National Guard soldiers in Memphis, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesperson said, “To our knowledge they are not” equipped with them, while referring further questions to the National Guard. Local news organizations and lawmakers have not received a definitive answer from the National Guard or the task force. Memphis Police Department officers who carry body cameras were also part of the pursuit that ended in Johnson’s death, so footage from those officers may exist. The Guard soldiers, who fired the fatal shots, are not confirmed to have recorded the incident.
Where It Stands
Nine months after soldiers began patrolling Memphis streets, three people are dead following encounters with the Memphis Safe Task Force, five TBI investigations have been opened, and the question of whether National Guard soldiers carry body cameras remains unanswered. The administration has presented the task force as a national model and has indicated other cities could see similar deployments. No congressional committee has held a hearing on the accountability structure of the task force. The TBI investigations remain open. At least two of the three deceased individuals were confirmed to have been armed at the time of the encounter. In the case of Darrin Pigram, the question of whether he was armed remains publicly unresolved.