Feds: No permission needed for Legend
Operation intends to fight violent crime in Memphis
U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant struck a defiant and fiery tone with the Memphis City Council Tuesday, as he defended the newly revealed Operation Legend and attacked some members of the council’s stance on policing.
“Resistance in opposition to law enforcement is not a legitimate public policy. Police officers are the only thing that stands between law abiding citizens and anarchy,” Dunavant told the Memphis City Council hours before it considered expressing nonbinding disapproval for Operation Legend — the federal initiative intended to combat violent crime in select major U.S. cities, including Memphis.
“With all due respect to the council, no one’s permission is necessary for us to surge these federal re
sources into Memphis. Federal law still applies here on the streets of Memphis,” Dunavant said. “As long as I’m the United States Attorney, we will, in fact, aggressively, consistently, and unapologetically enforce that federal law against the worst of the worst criminals for harming our citizens and terrorizing our community.”
The council later voted against the resolution showing disapproval for Operation Legend.
During more than six minutes of prepared remarks, Dunavant defended the Department of Justice operation rolled out this summer in Albuquerque, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, and St Louis. His comments came from the Memphis Police Department headquarters and continued a string of messages from Dunavant, MPD leadership and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland about the need for more law enforcement personnel to reduce violent crime in Memphis.
“The violent criminals out there should know that we are here to stay, but they should be the only ones in opposition to this operation,” Dunavant, who nominated by President Donald Trump in 2017, said. “This operation honors the memory of innocent little, four year old Legend Taliferro because we want to say his name. We want to say the names of Ashlynn Luckett and Lequan Boyd because their lives matter.”
Dunavant’s comments and phrasing about the death of Taliferro in Kansas City and the January deaths of Luckett and Boyd in Memphis adopted the phrasing of chants that thousands of protesters in Memphis and nationwide used in marches against police brutality this summer. Those marches and unrest followed the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville at the hands of police.
The widespread outrage over Floyd and Taylor’s deaths, and the police killings that came before them, sparked a movement and a national reckoning with the country’s racist past. In response to that movement, some members of the Memphis City Council have shown skepticism regarding more investment in law enforcement
The council —by a tight 7-6 margin, largely along racial lines — voted two weeks ago to take a ballot referendum on whether public safety employees could live outside Shelby County off the November ballot. In doing so, the winning majority cited concern about whether the police department needs to expand; whether more police officers will reduce violent crime and if the city’s tax dollars could be better directed toward solving the issue of the city’s deep-seated poverty.
Five members of the council — all of whom voted to take the residency referendum off the ballot — sponsored the resolution that expresses disapproval for Operation Legend and the 40 federal law enforcement agents it is bringing to Memphis out of concern for the lack of local control. The resolution also expresses concern for the relationship and trust between law enforcement and the community.
On Tuesday, one of the sponsors, Councilwoman Michalyn Easter-thomas expressed those same concerns and added that she did not trust the federal agents would stay focused on violent crime, citing what she called the dog-whistles of President Donald Trump and his focus on Democrat-run, majority-minority cities with federal law enforcement initiatives.
She also noted the clash between law enforcement and protesters in Portland and said Operation Legend has “the potential to go well beyond its scope.”
Dunavant, like he did two weeks ago when the operation was announced, said it was not the introduction of federal riot police or a response to any civil unrest.
Later debate among the council centered on whether the resolution they were considering have any teeth at all and whether Memphis has any control over whether federal agents are on the ground.
MPD Deputy Director Mike Ryall, when asked by council, said the operation would continue with or without Memphis’ participation. Ryall expressed support for the program, saying the department needs the help to reduce violent crime.
Nationwide, cities react to Legend
The a faction of the council’s skepticism is not unique. In cities such as Kansas City and St. Louis where the operation is also underway, some elected officials and community members have expressed concern and distrust of the program.
Some city mayors, including Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, have extended support and expressed the need for resources. When the initiative was announced Aug. 6, Mayor Lyda Krewson of St. Louis said she welcomed the federal resources and was dealing with a shortage of police officers.
In Albuquerque, Mayor Tim Keller had a different response and said the operation was “politics standing in the way of police work and makes us less safe.
Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government and politics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.