Memphis Is “Under Full-Blown Occupation” by [fascist paramilitary invaders]. Here’s Why You May Not Know That.
cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/46736896
> > There’s a massive immigration operation in Memphis right now, but you may not have heard about it. It certainly hasn’t gotten as much attention as past surges in Chicago or Minneapolis—even though it’s been going on since September.
> >
> > Hunter Demster, who runs a soup kitchen in the city, has been trying to get the word out. He often drives around with his phone, looking for officers to film as they arrest immigrants. There are more than 2,700 officers stationed in the city as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force; some are from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); others are from other law enforcement agencies and the National Guard. None particularly want to be photographed.
> >
> > Which means that Demster is facing blowback for trying to document them. So are other community members doing the same thing. Officers have taunted them, shined bright lights at them, and followed them in their cars. One community member was assaulted and jailed for trying to film. Now, they’re suing, with help from the ACLU, which argues that agents are engaged in a pattern of intimidation and retaliation that hampers their First Amendment rights to record the police.
> >
> > The lawsuit was filed last week against leaders of the task force, and it’s a harrowing read—[dozens of pages of examples](https://www.aclu.org/cases/demster-v-blanche?document=Complaint#legal-documents). Demster, for one, recalls an officer driving quickly as he stood in a parking lot and then swerving toward him, missing him by inches. Another plaintiff was “bumper-rushed” by police while driving—they came up behind him so quickly that it appeared a collision was imminent, before hitting the brakes at the last second.
> >
> > “It’s retaliation,” Demster told me of the various incidents. “And for what? Holding a phone.”
> >
> > ...
> >
> > The surge has not gotten much national attention in part because Tennessee’s Republican governor supports it—he has said it will continue indefinitely. And the Trump administration has framed it not as an immigration crackdown, which would get a lot of press coverage, but as a crime crackdown. (Task force officers from other agencies are arresting people primarily for traffic violations and crimes, but they call DHS officers when they encounter immigrants.)
> >
> > ...
> >
> > Demster continues to press record whenever he gets a chance. “We are under full-blown occupation and immigrants are going missing,” he says. “No one should fear their government for holding a phone.”
> > There’s a massive immigration operation in Memphis right now, but you may not have heard about it. It certainly hasn’t gotten as much attention as past surges in Chicago or Minneapolis—even though it’s been going on since September.
> >
> > Hunter Demster, who runs a soup kitchen in the city, has been trying to get the word out. He often drives around with his phone, looking for officers to film as they arrest immigrants. There are more than 2,700 officers stationed in the city as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force; some are from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); others are from other law enforcement agencies and the National Guard. None particularly want to be photographed.
> >
> > Which means that Demster is facing blowback for trying to document them. So are other community members doing the same thing. Officers have taunted them, shined bright lights at them, and followed them in their cars. One community member was assaulted and jailed for trying to film. Now, they’re suing, with help from the ACLU, which argues that agents are engaged in a pattern of intimidation and retaliation that hampers their First Amendment rights to record the police.
> >
> > The lawsuit was filed last week against leaders of the task force, and it’s a harrowing read—[dozens of pages of examples](https://www.aclu.org/cases/demster-v-blanche?document=Complaint#legal-documents). Demster, for one, recalls an officer driving quickly as he stood in a parking lot and then swerving toward him, missing him by inches. Another plaintiff was “bumper-rushed” by police while driving—they came up behind him so quickly that it appeared a collision was imminent, before hitting the brakes at the last second.
> >
> > “It’s retaliation,” Demster told me of the various incidents. “And for what? Holding a phone.”
> >
> > ...
> >
> > The surge has not gotten much national attention in part because Tennessee’s Republican governor supports it—he has said it will continue indefinitely. And the Trump administration has framed it not as an immigration crackdown, which would get a lot of press coverage, but as a crime crackdown. (Task force officers from other agencies are arresting people primarily for traffic violations and crimes, but they call DHS officers when they encounter immigrants.)
> >
> > ...
> >
> > Demster continues to press record whenever he gets a chance. “We are under full-blown occupation and immigrants are going missing,” he says. “No one should fear their government for holding a phone.”