MEMPHIS, TENN. — Four Memphis residents filed a lawsuit in federal court against U.S. and Tennessee officials, alleging harassment, arrest and physical mistreatment for observing and recording law enforcement agents in their city. The complaint accuses agents of the Memphis Safe Task Force of systematically retaliating against the plaintiffs and other observers engaged in similar activities.

The lawsuit claims the threats and harassment are the direct result of federal policy that views observing federal agents performing their duties in public as a threat to those agents, and that federal and state officials have failed to train task force agents not to retaliate against citizens engaged in First Amendment protected activities. It asks the court to declare retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity unconstitutional and to prohibit further retaliation by the task force.

The suit also challenges a Tennessee law, known as the "Halo Law," that requires observers to stand at least 25 feet (7.6 meters) away from law enforcement officers if warned to do so, or face arrest. It asks the court to declare unconstitutional the use of that law against defendants who are not interfering with law enforcement agents or impeding their duties.

President Donald Trump ordered the Memphis Safe Task Force, which comprises agents from 13 federal agencies, to Memphis to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard. Since late September, hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in Memphis, a majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.

Hunter Demster, one of the plaintiffs, was surrounded by task force agents after he filmed a traffic stop and told the people in the car that they had a right not to speak to police. Demster regularly sees task force agents stopping cars in his neighborhood, which has a large Hispanic population. "It is a terrifying feeling. I did nothing illegal. I used my First Amendment protected rights to hold up a phone and say some 'know your rights' information," Demster said.

Senior staff attorney Scarlet Kim said Tennessee law is written so broadly that officers have wide discretion to invoke it against observers even when they are not impeding law enforcement actions. "That's all core protected First Amendment activity. And it's not a basis for the government to essentially react in the way that they're reacting," she said.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement, "In eight months, the Memphis Safe Task Force has made over 9,000 arrests, including 951 known gang members, and located 150 missing children, drastically increasing public safety in the Memphis community. The Department will not tolerate any action that puts our law enforcement officers at risk. We strongly disagree with the allegations in the lawsuit and remain committed to fair, impartial, and professional law enforcement practices to keep Memphians and the American people safe."