New Filings Detail Disturbing Accounts of Federal Agents Retaliating Against Memphis Residents

MEMPHIS — Today, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee filed for a preliminary injunction in federal court to prevent the Memphis Safe Task Force from retaliating against civilians seeking to record and observe immigration and law enforcement activities.

Additional filings describe how after filming the Task Force, Memphians have witnessed surveillance outside their homes, faced unlawful traffic stops, and experienced taunting from agents.

“Despite the intimidation I have faced from the Task Force, I know that it’s important to stand up for my rights,” said Hunter Demster, plaintiff. “I have a constitutional right to observe Task Force agents without worrying that they might be surveilling my house or following my car. Documenting their activity and showing the world what is happening in Memphis is critical to holding them accountable, and I will use my voice and my platform to stand up for the First Amendment and for my neighbors.”

Since September 2025, thousands of federal, state, and local agents have flooded the streets of Memphis as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a 31-agency Task Force that has aggressively patrolled the city at the invitation of Governor Bill Lee and President Donald Trump. Agents and officers working with the Memphis Safe Task Force have terrorized local communities, conducting mass traffic stops and large-scale immigration arrests.

“What we’re seeing in Memphis is the systematic repression of the First Amendment right to peacefully observe, gather information about, and film government officials operating in public,” said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “No one should have their personal safety or privacy compromised simply for bringing to light what Task Force agents are doing on the streets of Memphis. The Task Force’s campaign of harassment and intimidation against our clients must end immediately.”

The declarations, filed by a group of 9 community members, recount intimidation, aggression, and even violence against people documenting Task Force activity. They describe a pattern of menacing retaliation:

• “[The Task Force agent] tackled me to the ground with immense force. Once I was on the ground, he and another person pinned me to the ground facedown. I was shocked and scared. I did not know what was happening or understand that they were arresting me, because I hadn’t broken any laws and they did not tell me I was under arrest.” (plaintiff J.C.)

• "As I approached, the ICE agent said something like, ‘Hey Melissa, you’re late.’ Hearing him call my name was chilling. I knew my photo had been taken at prior scenes and suspected my license plate had been photographed too. But for him to connect me to those other scenes and call me by my name was truly frightening.” (plaintiff M.P.)

• "The Task Force follows me when I am in my car. The Task Force knows where I live. And, at the same time, whenever I see another Task Force vehicle following me, I wonder whether this can really be happening to me again.” (plaintiff K.H.)

• “[Agents] positioned their truck behind my vehicle on the road and accelerated to get so close to the back of my car that I thought the truck was going to hit my bumper before backing off. This caused me to fear that the agents were going to crash into my car. Sometimes the truck would repeat this multiple times in a row. [During another similar incident] I was worried that they were going to hit my car and drag me out of the vehicle—something I had recently seen happen to a journalist while reporting in Portland.” (declarant J.G.)

• "The MPD cruiser continued to follow us but did not put its overhead police lights on. We stopped at the next intersection and took a right. The cruiser did the same. We kept driving and turned down another side street. This was a residential neighborhood, and it was pretty dark and quiet at night. The cruiser continued to follow us, and we became increasingly nervous." (declarant B.R.)

The lawsuit also challenges the Task Force’s misuse of Tennessee's “Halo Law,” a statute that makes it a crime to approach law enforcement within twenty-five feet after receiving a warning to back up. Agents have repeatedly and arbitrarily invoked the law against observers who are not interfering with their work. These applications of the Halo Law impair the ability of plaintiffs to peacefully document and observe law enforcement, protected activities under the First Amendment.

“The First Amendment is not just words on a piece of paper — it protects the ability of everyday people to observe and record their government and hold it accountable,” said ACLU-TN staff attorney Zee Scout. “Restricting that right has serious implications for our clients and for people across the country who want to know what their government is doing. A government that fears the camera has something to hide.”

The motion for preliminary injunction asks the court to block the Task Force from retaliating against our plaintiffs for documenting their activity and from applying the Halo Law to them. The lawsuit was filed in mid-May by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the ACLU Foundation of Tennessee, Selendy Gay PLLC, and BraunHagey & Borden LLP in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The named defendants include Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the heads of DHS, ICE, CBP, the U.S. Marshals, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The declarations can be viewed here.