A hard-hitting speech to Memphis police by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has been met with shock and praise and will likely stoke the debate over the use of federal law-enforcement assets in U.S. cities.
Why It Matters
Miller’s speech, in which he told Memphis police officers that they were being “unleashed” with the full support of the federal government to “go out and get the criminals off the streets,” comes a day after President Donald Trump told military leaders that they should use “dangerous” U.S. cities as “training grounds.”
The Trump administration has clashed with Democratic leaders over the administration’s plans to send the National Guard, supported by members of federal agencies, to fight crime in various cities. Paul Young, the Democratic mayor of Memphis, has said he does not support the deployment of National Guard forces to the city.
What To Know
Miller joined Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi in Memphis on Wednesday to implement Trump’s order for the establishment of a Memphis Safe Task Force to tackle crime.
Miller told police officers that the federal government would provide them with “a level of support you cannot even imagine.”
“The gangbangers that you deal with, they think that they’re ruthless. They have no idea how ruthless we are,” Miller said. “They think that they’re tough. They have no idea how tough we are. They think that they’re hardcore. We are so much more hardcore than they are, and we have the entire weight of the United States government behind us.”
Karen Bass, the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, said Miller’s announcement was a “threat to our democracy.”
“This is such a tragic moment in our history, and the experiment that started here has now gone to other cities and is now being generalized,” she told CNN, referring to Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles in the summer.
“So after years of trying to work on police reform … Stephen Miller just said, ‘Let’s antagonize it,’ because clearly this is only going to happen in certain communities,” Bass said, adding, “It’s a real challenge to our democracy in such a profoundly negative way.”
Some X users hailed Miller’s declaration.
David Harwood, who said he lived in Memphis before moving to Nashville in 2002, wrote: “He has to follow those words up with action. I lived in Memphis for 20 years. People are killed at ATM machines. Pizza delivery drivers are killed for a $20 pizza.”
“I pray that this operation saves Memphis,” he added.
“We citizens of Memphis welcome you with open arms!” wrote X user Andrew Glisson, whose bio said he was in Houston.
“Stephen Miller just declared a federal surge in Memphis with chilling words,” podcast host Brian Allen wrote on X, adding: “This isn’t public safety. It’s martial law cosplay with a badge. The people of Memphis didn’t vote for this. They’re being occupied, because it plays well on Fox.”
The Tennessee Holler, a digital media outlet, wrote on X while describing Miller’s speech, “Stephen Miller brings his seething rage to MEMPHIS.”
What People Are Saying
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told Memphis police: “This is not just a strategy shift. This is an attitude shift. We are not going to live in an environment anywhere—whether it’s a street that belongs to a criminal, whether it’s a neighborhood that belongs to a gang, whether it’s any physical space anywhere that belongs to anyone other than the law-abiding citizens and families of Memphis.”
He added: “I see the guns and badges in this room. You are unleashed. The handcuffs you’re carrying, they’re not on you anymore. They’re on the criminals. And whatever you need to get it done, we’re going to get it done.”
What Happens Next