City councilwoman says failed resolution to stop National Guard ‘gaslit’ residents

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The City Council’s proposed push back on the National Guard failed.

Some Memphis city council members proposed legislation to urge Governor Bill Lee to stop the deployment. While the resolution gathered a large amount of public support, that was not the case for the city council.

Four city councilmembers voted for the resolution, four voted against it, and two abstained.

Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton was one of the four council members who voted against the resolution.

“Because this resolution is not even worth the piece of paper it is on,” she said during the meeting.

Cooper-Sutton says she does not want the National Guard, but questioned the resolution that was presented.

“I am voting no on this bull crap because what you are not going to do is grandstand and make a fool out of people and keep making a fool out of people, because when they walk out of this door, it’s going to be the same thing,” she said.

Cooper-Sutton wanted to see a plan that would help the residents, something she says the resolution did not do.

“Now, now we want to say something and grandstand and play on the people’s emotions. What plans do we have in place?” she said. “What are you going to do about it? What solutions do we have in place? But what you are not going to do is call me scared, because I have never been scared. But what I do have is wisdom.”

Dozens of residents showed up to Tuesday’s Memphis City Council meeting to support a resolution to urge Governor Lee not to deploy the National Guard.

“As a voice for other Latina moms in the community, I want to share a deep concern about the arrival of the National Guard and other federal agencies in our neighborhoods,” said Sandra Pita, a Memphis resident.

Pita was one of the many who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. She has concerns about what is to come, especially for black and brown communities.

“This situation does not strengthen our community; on the contrary, it creates more division, fear, and mistrust,” said Pita.

Pita says now that it has failed, community members will look for other ways to push back.

“I guess I want to thank the council for just trying, but trying is not enough,” she said. “We need more than that and if we are going to keep working on finding ways to protect the community.”

Questions about what the resolution could do were asked during the discussion. The overall answer was nothing. But Councilwoman Jerri Green, who sponsored the resolution, said it would help with legal action if the National Guard does something unconstitutional while it is here in Memphis.

This is the third resolution aimed to push back on the National Guard deployment between City and County government bodies that have failed.

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