Observers of the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) sued the federal government Wednesday over what they call retaliation for legally recording task force actions.
Since the MSTF operation began here in September, locals have found task force agents in action and recorded them in the name of accountability and preservation. In March, we reported on a group of those doing this work here, Vecindarios 901.
The all-volunteer group listens to find MSTF actions, travels to the spot, and records and/or engages with task force members about what they are doing. In our story, Vecindarios 901 members described intimidation tactics from the task force that included verbal harassment, recording Vecindarios 901 members, and general menace.
Four Memphis residents asked a federal court in Memphis Wednesday to stop the task force from “a disturbing and pervasive pattern of retaliation.”
They said retaliation has included:
• Task Force agents tackling an observer seeking to record Task Force activity, pinning her down and arresting and jailing her for 27 hours.
• Task Force agents swerving at or boxing in observers with their vehicles.
• Task Force agents consistently photographing observers’ faces, vehicles, and license plates.
• Observers noticing unmarked vehicles with tinted windows and individuals in tactical vests outside their homes after observing the Task Force.
• Task Force agents repeatedly identifying and taunting observers by name, when observers have never met them before, making observers “feel hypervigilant.”
• Task Force agents shining bright lights at observers’ faces, phones, and cameras to obscure photography and filming of Task Force activity.
• Plaintiffs being tailed, stopped, and subjected to questioning without reasonable suspicion of a crime after observing Task Force activity.
The four plaintiffs named in the suit are Hunter Demster, Jessica Chodor, Kenneth Halt, and Melissa Peeler. They, along with the ACLU-TN, sued Todd Blanche, Acting Attorney General of the United States; Gadyaces Serralta, Director of the U.S. Marshals Service and chair of the Memphis Safe Task Force; and a host of other top-ranking federal law enforcement officials.
“In the midst of the occupation in Memphis and the lack of transparency from this administration, it’s important for people to bear witness to what’s actually happening in our community,” Demster said in a statement. “The Memphis Safe Task Force is causing real harm to my friends and neighbors, and recording their abuses is one way to seek accountability and justice.
”The fact that I’ve been followed, threatened, and retaliated against for exercising my rights should concern everyone who cares about the First Amendment.”
The complaint also challenges the Task Force’s application of the state’s “Halo Law,” which criminalizes approaching law enforcement within 25 feet after one warning. The ACLU-TN said that Task Force agents have repeatedly used the law to prevent non-obstructive observers, including our plaintiffs, from gathering information and recording their operations.