The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee is weighing a legal challenge to the state’s use of the National Guard.

And Memphis City Council member Jerri Green has been talking with legal experts about the same possibility.

Claire Gardner of the ACLU chapter dismissed the federal effort behind the guard deployment sought by President Donald Trump as “failed tactics dressed up as intervention.”

“We will consider every legal option available,” she said of the possibility of a lawsuit of some kind. “We don’t bluff.”

Green and Gardiner were among those who spoke of an “occupation” by the guard at a Thursday, Sept. 18, press conference outside City Hall that drew a group of 45 supporters.

The rally featured the three Memphis City Council members — Green, JB Smiley and Pearl Walker — who, along with Dr. Jeff Warren, are sponsoring a resolution on next week’s council agenda that would ask Gov. Bill Lee to take back the deployment of the guard to Memphis.

The council resolution, which is nonbinding, will also ask that no federal personnel be deployed at any city-owned facilities.

Green said her look at legal action has been complicated by conflicting comments from the officials involved on what the Guard’s presence will be.

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“Every time I turn around Bill Lee says something different. First he says he is not considering it. Then he says he is considering it,” she said. “Then it’s going to be 30 days. Then it’s going to be indefinite.”

“I don’t know and I have to wait until they get here and they start terrorizing our community before I can talk to you about what challenges to make — whether it will be on the state level or the federal level and what laws we will file under,” said Green, who is an attorney.

“Just because you don’t know the plan doesn’t mean there isn’t a plan,” said State Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Eads, at a Thursday evening rally in East Memphis in support of the guard deployment.

The rally organized by the Shelby County Republican Party drew a crowd of 70.

“I don’t know what the plan is,” Taylor said to a question about when the guard would arrive. “But I know there is a plan.”

Sanford/Hunt: Memphis’ National Guard presence demands collaboration over partisanship

Mayor Paul Young said Thursday evening at a third unrelated gathering at the Pink Palace that the guard troops should arrive within two weeks. The guardsmen will come “hundreds” of other federal law enforcement personnel, according to Young.

He also said that he and federal and state officials are still negotiating the terms of who will do what including the federal agencies. Young said the guard will not be making arrests.

In East Memphis, local Republican Party Vice Chair Luke Cymbal described Democrats — including the three Memphis City Council members at the earlier City Hall event — as “out of touch.”

“All I saw were a bunch of activists,” Taylor said of the City Hall event. “They don’t represent Memphians. We represent Memphians.”

Council member JB Smiley Jr. was critical of local elected leaders who have taken a middle ground of sorts and said the city has no alternative but to cooperate with the guard since the governor has activated it.

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“So many of our elected officials are afraid and they do not have backbones,” he said. “This is not just a resistance. This is a moment in time when we are going to remember where folks stand.”

Smiley didn’t name the local leaders he was criticizing.

When he and Green were asked if they were specifically criticizing Young’s strategy, Smiley said, “I’m not going to speak about any elected official. I’m going to speak about the people here today. The people here today said we don’t want this.”

Green said the council has a different role in the controversy than the mayor.

“I think it’s really important that everybody understand that everybody has a different role,” she said. “We work for the people and the people we represent said, ‘we don’t want this.’ … we are doing our job.”

‘I don’t want to see a tank in my neighborhood’— County Commission debates Guard deployment

Young was praised at the Republican event by State Sen. Paul Rose, R-Covington, who said Young told him of his opposition to the guard but vowed to try to make the increased and long-term federal and state cooperation with the city work.

Young has said he doesn’t agree with using the National Guard but that the city has no choice or say in the process.

Past deployments of the National Guard in the city in 1968, 1978 and 2020 were at the request of the Memphis mayor at the time.

Council member Walker urged guard leaders to feed their troops at Memphis restaurants and patronize local businesses to help the local economy.

“Yes, the guard is coming and instead of always repeating rhetoric, why don’t we figure out a way to help the National Guard to help us? Those troops — they have to eat,” she said. “The state should pay for meals at our local restaurants. They should be eating in our local restaurants. … Many of them will be locals and we will know them.”

Walker said she remains opposed to the deployment because she believes it sends the wrong message. And she said the presence of troops will further impact small businesses already feeling the impact of crime.

“When fear spreads people stay at home. They only go out for essentials. That means our restaurants suffer,” she said. “Our nightlife suffers. Small businesses will suffer. Our tourism will suffer because people will be afraid to leave their homes.”

Walker said the Whitehaven part of her council district already experiences people crossing the Mississippi state line to shop and dine in Southaven.

Several of those opposing the guard presence said the troops are unnecessary because crime in the city has dropped. They also said the troops do nothing to solve the long-term problem that they link to the city’s persistent and historically high rate of citizens living in poverty.

Taylor and others backing the guard presence attributed the drop in crime, which by the city’s statistics began at the start of 2024, to the increased involvement of federal agencies starting this past July.

Council members to push Gov. Lee to reject Guard deployment

“The root cause of crime is criminals. It has nothing to do with poverty,” he said. “Solving that would take a generation to bring crime rates down.”

Green said she is not denying the city has a problem with crime despite the statistical drop.

“The solution to crime is opportunity not occupation,” she said. “I do not believe that we don’t have a problem here. And I am not soft on crime. I am smart on crime.”

Taylor said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has agreed, at his request, to speed up its regular audit of crime statistics submitted the Memphis Police Department submits to TBI.

Taylor has questioned whether the crime decline MPD is reporting is a result of unreported or unsolved crimes.

The Shelby County Commission at its Monday meeting will consider a pair of resolutions. One would also ask that the guard not be deployed in Memphis. Another asks for county government to have some voice in how the guard’s presence is used along with the role of federal agencies.

“I believe the Democrats have this one wrong,” Republican County Commissioner Brandon Morrison said at the evening rally. “We are all tired of seeing some of our friends and neighbors leave our city and it’s because of the safety issue.”

She is one of four Republicans on the 13-member commission, where Democrats hold a supermajority.

Morrison said the partisan differences on the approach could be an opportunity for the local GOP.

“This is an opportunity for the Republicans to grow our tent, to welcome the Democrats into our party,” she said. “And to come together and find common ground there. So, thank you President Trump.”

Do residents think National Guard is the answer to crime?

Green, who is running in the Democratic primary for Tennessee Governor, accused the state’s Republican leadership of “cowardice” — including U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running in the Republican primary for governor.

“Your cowardice in this moment will be noted for history,” she said of Lee, U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty and Blackburn. “Instead of sacrificing the rights of the people you are sworn to protect, I advise you come to Memphis.”

The Republican rally site was ringed by Blackburn campaign signs.