WASHINGTON—Yesterday, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined American Agenda on Newsmax to discuss President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal resources to Memphis, Tennessee, the progress already being made in crime reduction, and the importance of sustained investment in public safety.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on bringing federal resources to Memphis: “This is something we’ve been talking about for some time. It’s [Memphis crime] been a problem since I was a kid. I’ve been talking with the mayor and with local authorities since November of last year about bringing additional federal resources to bear. And we have done that; we put a task force together. Over the past five months, we’ve seen tremendous results. That project ended on Friday of last week with over 500 arrests, over 100 federal indictments and climbing. President Trump has been supportive of all of this. We’ve had increased FBI resources and DEA resources. I can’t be more thankful for the cooperation of [FBI Director] Kash Patel and [Attorney General] Pam Bondi in this effort, but this initial effort has demonstrated that we can deliver real results. Now, what’s going to happen is we’re going to bring the full menu of federal resources to bear. Governor [Bill] Lee is going to step up and bring more state trooper resources. And again, we’ll be talking about the role of the National Guard; Governor Lee and I have been talking about that extensively. And later today, I’ll be talking with President Trump precisely about how to make certain that Memphis becomes the safest city in America.”
Hagerty on accelerating progress in Memphis: “I want to emphasize this: Memphis is already moving in the right direction. We’re going to accelerate that now with this broader set of resources. Then, longer term– and this is my job, this is the governor’s job, this is the job of local authorities there in Memphis –we need to make certain that Memphis has the appropriate resources to sustain its position as one of the most peaceful cities, one of the safest cities in America. That’s the goal.”
Hagerty on the timeframe for change: “I think it’s going to happen very quickly. The immediate progress that we’ve had with the task force effort that’s taken place over a number of weeks has delivered over 500 arrests and over 500 federal indictments. And those indictments will grow. My expectation is that we’ll see a lot more happen here in the coming weeks as we bring more resources to bear. I’m not just talking about the National Guard here– I’m talking about DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] resources and ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] resources. You think about the three-letter agencies that could be helpful, even the IRS [Internal Revenue Service], all will be called and brought to bear to make certain that Memphis crime enforcement is at the maximum. Long-term, we have to make certain that Memphis has the proper resource level to sustain this. Memphis has, for many years, been short on law enforcement resources. I pledged to the mayor and to the local leaders there, the governor has done the same, that we’re going to do everything that we can to put those resources in place to make certain that Memphis remains as safe as it possibly can be.”
Hagerty on partisan pushback against fighting crime: “It’s just amazing to me. You see what’s happening in Chicago, what’s happening in Los Angeles, frankly, around the country. It’s even happening in DC, even though the positive results are more and more obvious every day. They have no message; they have no narrative except to resist. And the notion of Trump Derangement Syndrome seems to be very real on the far left. This is just a knee-jerk reaction. Certainly, it’s not good for the populations that we’re trying to help. It’s not good for the populations that we’re all trying to serve. Public safety is a fundamental responsibility of government. It should not be a partisan matter. And I’ve been very pleased that the level of cooperation we’ve had in my home state of Tennessee– federal resources working with state resources and working with local municipal sources –we’ve been able to see tremendous initial results in Memphis. And I’m optimistic that we’re going see much more positive results as we move forward.”
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