Under the Free the 901 “BUYcott” more than 50 business owners called on elected officials to “oust” the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF), and for more businesses to publicly oppose the force.
According to organizers, 48 businesses such as Da Sammich Spot Restaurant and Resource Hub, Tamboli’s Pasta and Pizza, and Boycott Coffee publicly declared their opposition to the MSTF by refusing search and service to agents.
Ten businesses privately affirmed their commitment, Free the 901 said.
The initiative was started by Black and immigrant-owned businesses and includes restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cosmetic service providers, and more. These businesses represent areas of Midtown, Cooper-Young, Broad Avenue, Binghampton, Crosstown, Soulsville, East Memphis, South Memphis, The Heights, Berclair, Beale Street and Downtown.
“Our position is simple — we support the safety of the people who live here, and the Task Force is making them less safe, not more,” BUYcott members said in a statement.
“[The Task Force] profiles them, it pulls them over on the way to work, it chases them through city streets, and it treats entire neighborhoods as suspects.”
Business owners gathered at Tamboli’s to call on elected leaders to act in their official capacity to protect residents from the Task Force.
Owners asked Mayor Paul Young to end Memphis Police Department (MPD)’s partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Free the 901 also wants Young to publicly declare that the city’s resources will not be used for “raids or mass arrests.”
A statement from the group called Young out for his response to an ICE raid that occurred over the weekend on Macon Road.
Young called the incident “unsettling” and clarified that MPD was “not involved in planning or carrying out [the] federal operation.”
Free the 901 argued this distinction “prov[ed] that MPD does in fact assist ICE.”
The group called on the Shelby County Commission to file a lawsuit against Gov. Bill Lee for “illegally deploying the National Guard,” and for the Memphis City Council to pass a resolution to dissolve the Task Force and remove agents from the city.
BUYcott members requested that Lee “fully recall the Tennessee National Guard, Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) and all state agencies from the MSTF.”
They also want Lee to urge President Donald Trump to dissolve the Task Force.
Business owners not only asked for elected officials to oppose the MSTF and National Guard, but for consumers to support the BUYcott and for more businesses to join.
“[We] welcome fellow business owners to join in refusing search and service to agents, in order to resist the normalization of militarized police separating families and murdering Memphians in the streets,” organizers said.
Michael Jasud, general manager at the cocktail bar Cameo on Union Avenue, said consumers have been “inundated” with false commitments to social justice from large corporations. He believes people want to support businesses that share their values.
Jasud said being “politically outspoken” and supportive of the community has been great for Cameo.
“I want to make sure this doesn’t come across cynically as an idea that being progressive is simply good for your business — it’s also good for your community,” Jasud said.
Jasud encouraged businesses to join their commitment and use their platform for advocacy.
