National Guard soldiers on Trump-backed task force kill man during pursuit in Memphis: police

National Guard soldiers on Trump-backed task force kill man during pursuit in Memphis: police Mayor Paul Young called the shooting an ‘unfortunate incident’ and said he was waiting to see the results of the TBI investigation before commenting further - Bookmark Two Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a Donald Trump-backed anti-crime task force in Memphis fatally shot a man who turned toward the soldiers with a gun during a downtown pursuit, authorities said. National Guard personnel were deployed to Tennessee's second-largest city last fall, a mission touted as a success by the Trump administration. Soldiers and local police in Memphis initiated a pursuit of an armed individual fleeing on foot after responding to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m., authorities confirmed. The guardsmen opened fire once the man turned toward them with his alleged weapon, the department said. Tyrin Johnson, 20, was identified as the man shot by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the bureau said it is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. No law enforcement officers were injured, the agency added. Two National Guard medical specialists attempted first aid at the scene, but Johnson succumbed to his injuries, Guard spokesperson Lt. Col Darrin Haas said in a statement. Mayor Paul Young called the shooting an “unfortunate incident” and said he was waiting to see the results of the TBI investigation before commenting further, according to a statement provided by spokesperson Penelope Huston. Federal troops have been patrolling the city since October over the objections of Young, a Democrat, but with the support of Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican. The troops are part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, convened by Trump and comprised of federal and local agencies. For years, Memphis, whose population exceeds 600,000, has dealt with high violent crime, including assaults, carjackings and homicides. Both Democratic and Republican officials have noted decreases last year in some crime categories, preceding the deployment and paralleling trends across U.S. cities. The Trump administration has ordered National Guard deployments in six Democrat-run cities, including New Orleans and Washington, D.C. The deployments cost nearly half a billion dollars through the end of December and are expected to cost taxpayers more than $1 billion this year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Local leaders in these cities have said they do not believe the federal intervention is necessary and some have challenged the deployments in court. In April, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that state and local Democratic officials lacked standing to block the deployment of federal troops in Memphis. In May, four Memphis residents filed a pending federal lawsuit seeking to block the federal task force from applying a law that bars residents from approaching within 25 feet of law enforcement officers to record their activities. The residents, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, also alleged that task force members have engaged in a pattern of retaliating against them for filming their operations. They alleged they have been followed by law enforcement officers and that unmarked vehicles and individuals in tactical vests have shown up outside their homes after they observed the task force. [Image text:] MILITARY POLICE AGILITEC