TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 18, 2025

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, Democrat of Memphis, questioned FBI Director Kash Patel about the upcoming deployment of the National Guard to the city during a hearing yesterday on Capitol Hill. According to the Daily Memphian, Cohen asked about the task force President Donald Trump established Monday and whether Patel thinks the National Guard is necessary to do the work that the FBI is doing. Patel said it is necessary: “… we’ve only secured a piece of where the criminal conduct is occurring in Memphis, and we can’t work inside perimeters that aren’t established and safe. And we don’t have the manpower to give us the space to go into the areas where the criminal activity remains.” Cohen and Patel also talked about the results of “Operation Viper” — a summer initiative that resulted in 500 arrests and about 110 indictments in the city.