4th Man Killed by Federal Agents Working With Trump’s Anticrime Taskforce in Memphis
Another Memphis man has died at the hands of federal agents working with the Memphis Safe Task Force. He is the fourth in the last two months, and the second in a single week.
Trump Administration Memphis
Back in September, Trump and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) joined evils to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF)—an effort that’s since summoned scores of federal ICE agents to police the Tennesseean city; intimidated various immigrant communities; and caused visible drops in school attendance. Memphis was the second American city to come under such a crackdown on Dem.-led cities (the first being Washington, D.C.) and since then, several stories have emerged to paint a very grim picture.
The latest of these was on Wednesday, when another person died at the hands of federal agents—the fourth person in the last two months, and the second in a single week—who were working with the MSTF.
The Memphis man—who has not yet been identified—was killed in a motel early Wednesday morning by DEA agents, who were working with the taskforce on a drugs-related investigation in Shelby County. According to a US Marshals Service spokesperson, he was fatally shot after officers had forced their way into the building. His death comes just days after National Guard agents shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson on Sunday while he was chased on foot by the local police department; a few months after Department of Homeland Security agents shot and killed 25-year-old Jonah Neal in May; and after MSTF agents shot and killed 41-year-old Darrin Pigram, also in May.
MEMPHIS: “This marks at least the fourth fatality associated with (Trump & Lee’s not-so-safe) task force during its time in the city.”
dailymemphian.com/article/6455…
— The Tennessee Holler (@thetnholler.bsky.social) July 8, 2026 at 6:24 PM
“Federal and local law enforcement officers were attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted fugitive facing felony drug charges out of Shelby county,” a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service, the taskforce’s lead agency, told news outlets in a statement. They also claim that the individual refused to surrender and pointed a handgun at members of the MSTF before he was ultimately shot and killed.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is reportedly looking into both of the week’s shootings on behalf of the local district attorney office, offered less details—claiming broadly that “for reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated.”
As such, concerns over transparency have mounted. “The decision to flood Memphis with military troops and other law enforcement officers is at odds with public safety,” Jin Hee Lee, a director of strategic initiatives at the Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement following Johnson’s death on Monday. “We call on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and any other relevant authorities to conduct a swift, thorough, and transparent investigation into this incident. The family of Tyrin Johnson, and the public, deserve the truth.”
When Trump and Lee established the MSTF, Trump said in an official announcement that it would address “tremendous levels of violent crime” in the nation’s largest Black-majority city. It looks like it’s done anything but.
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