US EditionAs the National Guard enters Memphis, memories of MLK and 1968 unrest resurface
The National Guard supports local law enforcement to address assaults, carjackings, and homicides amid ongoing violent crime challenges, with 4,000 troops reactivated in the effort.
- Last month, President Donald Trump announced the National Guard would deploy to Memphis, Tennessee to combat persistent violent crime, with city officials confirming Guard members will not have tanks.
- Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, sparking civil unrest after he supported 1,300 sanitation workers striking in Memphis, Tennessee.
- Longtime residents described Joe Calhoun, 75, recalling tanks and bayonetted rifles in 1968, and Lewis, 71, seeing armed Guard members downtown recently but not witnessing violence.
- Some 4,000 National Guard troops were reactivated in Memphis and a curfew reimposed, while Mayor Paul Young outlined Guard roles and Republican Gov. Bill Lee said troops will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service.
- Observers say the Guard's role has shifted from suppression to 'beautifying' Memphis, recalling 1978 labor disputes, while this year's statistics show murder improvements amid ongoing violence concerns.
68 Articles
68 Articles
As National Guard enters Memphis, memories of MLK, 1968 unrest resurface
Memphis was among several places in the South where the National Guard was deployed during the Civil Rights Movement, including Little Rock, Arkansas; Oxford, Mississippi; and places in Alabama.
Leaders look for answers on what Guard is doing here
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — National Guard troops are now on the ground in Memphis, but their presence is raising serious questions.City and state leaders are demanding answers from the governor, while community members voice concerns about transparency, legality, and the true purpose of the deployment. Rep. Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis) said people are echoing one core concern: "What exactly is the National Guard doing here?" National Guard members on pa…
Memories of MLK, 1968 unrest resurface as National Guard enters Memphis - Finnoexpert
As National Guard troops arrive in Memphis, the memory of thousands of them with bayonetted rifles and tanks in 1968 is still fresh for Joe Calhoun. Back then, he marched in the streets with sanitation workers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. King had come to support some 1,300 predominantly Black sanitation workers striking to protest inhumane treatment after a malfunctioning garbage truck killed two laborers. King led a demonstration in lat…
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