White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller told the Memphis law enforcement officials Wednesday that the days of gangbangers being allowed to control parts of the city are over.
“The idea that there is a square inch of block in this city where a citizen doesn’t feel safe is unacceptable, Miller said. “This is Memphis. This is the United States of America and all that bullshit is done!” he exclaimed. “It’s over, it’s finished!”
Miller joined Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in addressing Memphis Safe Task Force officials inside the Shelby County Operations Center, Wednesday afternoon.
President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order last month establishing the task force to restore law and order in the crime-ravaged city.
According to FBI data, Memphis in 2024 had the highest rate of violent crime per capita in the country, “including some of the highest per capita rates of murder, robbery, and aggravated assault, and property crimes such as burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft,” Trump’s memorandum noted.
Trump ordered 13 state and federal law enforcement agencies to Memphis to fight crime.
The Memphis Safe Task Force started operations on Monday and as of Wednesday afternoon, 53 arrests had already been made and 20 illegal firearms had been seized, according to the attorney general.
“We’re here to back you up, to be your partner,” Bondi told the task force members. “Be safe. Thank you for what you do. There’s no higher calling than being a police officer, especially in a violent world in which we live.”
Bondi vowed to protect law enforcement officers as they protect Memphis residents, warning that anyone who touches an officer will be arrested.
Hegseth told the task force officials that the president has been paying attention to Memphis and viewing the alarming crime data coming out of the city, and that he cares about the livelihoods of the people there.
He thanked officers for their work in dangerous places “where politicians spend a lot of time second guessing you.”
“We’re not here to second guess you, we’re here to have your back, to unleash you to do your job, so you come home safely,” Hegseth said. “Our department is here to enable you, law enforcement, to do your job.”
Addressing the Memphis police officers in attendance, Miller said, “we are about to provide you with a level of support that you cannot even imagine. This isn’t just a task force. This is an all of government unlimited support operation, ATF, DEA, FBI, ICE, Department of War—every resource we have.”
Miller promised that these federal officers “will not be sitting behind a desk behind a keyboard,” but will be “sending in real cops with guns and badges to go out with you on the street every single night making arrests.”
He added: “These are people who have taken down drug cartels, kingpins, the worst criminal offenders in the United States. Standing with you shoulder you shoulder to shoulder.”
Miller told the Memphis cops that if they show up every night and join their brothers and sisters in the federal law enforcement, “I pledge to you that we will liberate this city from the criminal element that has plagued it for generations.”
This is not just a strategy shift. This is an attitude shift. We are not going to live in an environment anywhere where there is a street that belongs to a criminal, where there is a neighborhood that belongs to a gang. Where there is any physical space anywhere that belongs to anyone other than the law-abiding citizens and families of Memphis.
The idea that there is a square inch of block in this city where a citizen doesn’t feel safe is unacceptable. This is Memphis! This is the United States of America and all that bullshit is done! It’s over, it’s finished.
The criminals of Memphis have no idea what’s about to hit them, Miller suggested in his pep talk.
“The gangbangers the cops have to deal with think they’re ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are,” he said. “They think they’re tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think that they’re hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are—and we have the entire weight of the United States government behind us. What do they have? They have nothing behind them” he declared.
“So we’re going to win, they’re going to lose, we are going to rescue Memphis and not only will it be safer than it ever was before, but businesses and investments are going to pour in and Memphis will be richer than ever before.”