FBI Director Kash Patel told Congress on Wednesday that deploying the National Guard to Memphis is necessary to complete the federal government’s law enforcement operation in the city, citing the need for greater manpower and safer perimeters for agents to finish their work amid high crime rates.
Speaking before the House Judiciary Committee, Patel said that while federal agents have made 500 arrests and obtained 110 federal indictments during the first phase of the FBI-led crackdown, agents “can’t work inside perimeters that are not established and safe.”
“What we need to do is … fully [move] onto the areas where the criminal activity remains,” Patel told Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN). “We don’t have the manpower to give us the space,” without National Guard support, he added.
The remarks come just two days after President Donald Trump announced he was dispatching the Memphis Safe Task Force, modeled after federal enforcement initiatives in Washington, D.C., where the National Guard previously established perimeters for operations by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Marshals.
Trump signed a presidential memorandum in the Oval Office on Monday, calling the plan a “replica of our extraordinarily successful efforts here [in Washington],” and said Chicago is next in line for federal intervention. His announcement followed a private meeting with Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, whose office said over 100 state troopers would also be sent to Shelby County.
In the hearing, Cohen, who represents three-fourths of Memphis, raised concerns about the deployment, arguing that the National Guard lacks training in law enforcement and could alarm residents or deter visitors.
“We have a crime problem in Memphis. The [FBI] has helped. DEA will help. ATF will help. I don’t think the National Guard is going to help,” Cohen said. “We hope that the National Guard doesn’t come in and cause people to have questions about Memphis.”
Patel confirmed the Guard would not have command over FBI agents, who remain under federal control, but said its presence was critical to protecting agents entering volatile areas.
The push to federalize law enforcement in Memphis has prompted sharp local backlash. Democratic Mayor Paul Young said he was not consulted before Trump’s televised announcement and warned that federal troops could stir painful historical memories, such as the 1968 deployment following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Other Democrats, including Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and state Rep. Justin Pearson, said the city needs investments in anti-poverty and community programs, not a “militarized occupation.”
Still, White House officials defended the move, citing data showing Memphis had the highest violent and property crime rates in 2024. Patel also confirmed that homicide rates have since dropped to a historic low in 2025, though broader crime trends remain a concern.
Trump’s escalation in Memphis marks the first such deployment in a Republican-led state and continues his administration’s wider “Making America Safe Again” campaign, despite litigation over past troop deployments in California.
More federal personnel and National Guard units are expected to arrive in Memphis this week.