‘Send us money, not troops’—Shelby Co. leaders speak on National Guard coming to Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Following President Trump’s decision to bring the National Guard to Memphis, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris held a press event to discuss the move.

This move marks the sitting president’s recent push for the National Guard to occupy high-crime cities across the country.

The decision has been praised by some and criticized by others.

Mayor Lee Harris disagrees with the decision, saying that President Trump’s use of the National Guard poses a threat to our freedom: “Yes, this country and this state have crime...but more importantly, we have freedoms.”

Tammy Sawyer, Shelby County General Sessions Clerk, was also vocal about her disapproval, adding that it could lead to more arrests for a jail that is already at capacity. “We don’t have the space [and we don’t] have the employees that we will need to support federal occupation.”

Mayor Harris and Clerk Sawyer both highlighted the county’s need for money, with Sawyer saying, “Send us money, not troops,” alluding to the recent federal funding cuts and Shelby County’s lack of financial backing for gun control efforts.

Despite his criticism of bringing the National Guard, Mayor Harris says that there is a need for more FBI agents and DEA agents in the city, citing the FBI office moving away from Memphis to Nashville.

The conference ended with Mayor Harris saying that “military personnel is where the line has to be drawn. The promise of zero crime is one thing, but we cannot give up everything that is America.”

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