Memphis Resident Makes Impassioned Plea to Dan Abrams in Favor of Trump Sending National Guard to Memphis
A Memphis resident made an impassioned plea on The Dan Abrams Show for the National Guard to deploy to the city and stop its “out of control” crime.
A man identifying himself as Keith called into Abrams’s Monday show during a discussion with Memphis attorney Robert Hutton about crime in the city and President Donald Trump announcing it will be the next to receive National Guard troops to help address crime.
Keith, who has lived and worked in Memphis and now lives just outside the city, was all for the idea of federal help. He described seeing Memphis slowly deteriorate over the decades. The man noted that his wife worked as a nurse, and noted that nurses have trouble providing home care in certain areas of the city because of crime.
Keith said:
I have seen it where now that even people, even the nurses can’t go into the home care facilities because of their, their lives [are] in danger. The police will go and take them there. Then they’ll say, well, we’ll come back for you, we don’t, you know, we don’t feel safe in this area. He knows about the projects in Memphis. Nobody wants to mention the projects, but a lot of those people [are] in their 80s and 90s and they need care.
And it’s very sad that there’s this group of hoodlums or gangsters have taken over in Memphis. And that’s all that I want them to try to do. I agree with him about the National Guard, 100%. But, you know, I don’t even feel safe anymore except for the places I know they have security guards in Memphis or where, you know, it’s going to be taken care of. I have two guys that own restaurants and got put out of business because of this. You just, you really don’t know how bad it is in Memphis unless you’ve been a part of it for 40 or 50 years.
The man continued by saying activities like simply going to the mall have long been part of the past for himself and his family, and he argued he’d be for federal help, whether it was Trump or a Democrat like former Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden in the White House.
Memphis has dealt with high crime rates in recent years, though the city has seen an overall reduction this year. Memphis Mayor Paul Young (D) said that he believes new federal resources will help tackle violent crime in the city, though he’s pushed back on the use of the National Guard.
Keith said:
There used to be malls there. I mean, we would go, we would ice skate, we had family — now there are no malls. They just completely took over the malls, you couldn’t even go to a mall without ever getting your car stolen or they’re going to rob you.
This is a good thing for Memphis. I know everybody thinks, Oh, it’s just because of Trump and all that. I don’t care if it was Obama [as] president or if it’s Biden [as] president. This has been needing to be done for a long time and I just pray to God, and I mean this and I hope the attorney does too, that this will help because it can’t hurt.
The man acknowledged there could be downsides to relying on the National Guard for policing, but he argued you’d be more hard-pressed than ever to boost police recruitment numbers, even with a major injection of funds.
Keith’s own experiences with crime included everything from his uncle’s truck being stolen to witnessing violent crimes while he worked as security transporting nurses and others to and from a hospital.
“My job was to go take the nurse to their car. When they got, got, to work. And when they left work, that was my job. I had to walk them to their cars and then walk them back, you know, to the facility when they parked and they would call me. I had witnessed more rapes. I witnessed more murders. I’ve witnessed — it’s out of control,” he said.
Hutton agreed with Keith’s assessment that crime in Memphis is out of control. The attorney said he does not allow his children to go downtown due to his concerns with crime. He argued for using resources like the FBI and Highway Patrol to help with crime enforcement.
“Everybody wants to solve the problem. Everybody realizes there’s a problem,” Hutton said. “The question is, is this sending in the National Guard for a period of time, is this really a solution? Or is this just a show, putting something out there to try to fix it that really is going to correct the deeper issues? And the deeper problems we need, one of which is more trained law enforcement.”
“Keith, thank you. I appreciate your insights,” Abrams said about the call. “Man, it doesn’t sound good.”
Watch above via Dan Abrams on YouTube.
