White people were 6% of arrests by Memphis Safe Task Force in its first two months MLK50 staff looked through hundreds of pages of records and examined more than 3,000 mugshots of people arrested by the task force in October and November. Here's what we found.

"More than 3,000 people were arrested during the first two months of the Memphis Safe Task Force's deployment."

"Only 6% of them appeared to be white."
#Tennessee #USA #Transportation #Policing #Military #Deportation #EthnicCleansing

His business has a ‘no law enforcement’ sign on the front door. The Memphis Safe Task Force swarmed the parking lot anyway. Rob Brown helps a customer put in an order at the counter of his restaurant, Da Sammich Spot. On Sunday, Brown was confronted by National Guard and

His business has a ‘no law enforcement’ sign on the front door. The Memphis Safe Task Force swarmed the parking lot anyway.

🌱 Community-rooted news you'll find only at @mlk50.com

Read it here: mlk50.com/2026/01/09/h...

A Sister’s Love and Grief: Keyana Dixon Opens Up About the Death of Her Brother, Tyré Nichols On the anniversary of Tyré Nichols' death, his sister Keyana Dixon opens up about the case that changed her life forever.

In her own words, she shares what it was like to sit in court and listen to the men who killed him – and why she refused to give in to the spectacle of state violence. capitalbnews.org/tyre-nichols-death-anniv...

The technofascists have also successfully made everyone doubt everything they are seeing with their own eyes. Is this AI? How can I tell? This has to be AI, right???? Completely destroying our chance at a shared reality.

Police accountability commission under fire: “You have state power—fucking use it.” Chicagoans shared accounts of Chicago police helping ICE and Border Patrol agents at a public listening session they criticized as long overdue.

Chicagoans packed a special meeting of the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability last night, recounting story after story of Chicago police assisting federal immigration agents while blasting the commission for a lack of action.

w/ @djbyrnes1.bsky.social

Public safety must-have or threat to civil liberties? Debate over Flock license plate reader cameras has taken hold in North Bay Flock Safety cameras are now fixtures in the region, and while law enforcement touts their crime fighting boost, the technology has also raised privacy and civil liberties concerns.

“Folks have warned for years about the mission creep of surveillance infrastructure systems like (automated license plate readers) and this propensity for them to be abused, and we’re seeing those risks manifest today,” EFF’s @tsnvaa.bsky.social told @pressdemo.bsky.social.

Hundreds of people have packed into Chicago's Thalia Hall tonight for a community listening session on CPD collaboration with ICE/CBP.

Police district councillors who gathered petition signatures required to hold tonight's hearing are opening by thanking the community for showing out.

A Sister’s Love and Grief: Redefining justice in Tyré Nichols’ memory “A Sister’s Love and Grief” is a three-part series that explores what Keyana Dixon’s life has been like since January 2023, when five former Memphis

In the final part of this series, Keyana Dixon explains how she is uplifting her brother’s legacy and memory.

"Justice would have been my brother not being yanked from his car, targeted and beaten to death. So, I had to redefine justice for myself."

#TyreNichols

Good morning. I'd like to invite anyone who is interested to make a small gesture of kindness today. It's up to you to decide what that can be. The key is for you to act on the idea. With so much out of our control, we can choose how to be with each other today and every day.

They couldn’t care less about Renee Good’s killing A disdain for facts and the reflex to taint a dead woman crystallize a new level of grotesqueness.

As federal agents stood behind her, Noem appeared unmoved as reporters repeatedly referred to the multiple video angles that have essentially proven the outright falsehoods of the administration’s smear campaign.

A Sister’s Love and Grief: Navigating a new normal without Tyré Nichols “A Sister’s Love and Grief” is a three-part series that explores what Keyana Dixon’s life has been like since January 2023, when five former Memphis

In part 2 of this 3-part series, Keyana Dixon describes the days and months after her brother’s death: the chaos, the silence and the winding road toward peace.

#TyreNichols
mlk50.com/2026/01/08/a...

A Sister’s Love and Grief: Keyana Dixon opens up about the death of her brother, Tyré Nichols Words by Keyana Dixon as told to Brittany Brown. Video directed by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report For America. Keyana Dixon agreed to meet

Keyana Dixon shares, in her own words, what it was like to sit in court and listen to the men who killed her brother, Tyrè Nichols – and why she refused to give in to the spectacle of state violence.

This is part 1 of a 3-part series for @mlk50.com

Read & watch the video: mlk50.com/2026/01/07/a...

I'm a veteran criminal justice reporter. I've never seen anything like ICE-occupied Memphis. “It’s about as sad as you can possibly imagine."

I've been reporting on the criminal justice system for over a decade and have lived in an authoritarian country overseas, but I've never seen anything like the police presence in ICE-occupied Memphis. Here's my dispatch: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Homeland security twitter screenshot - “all America wants for Christmas is remigration”

As a person who has been studying extreme far right ideologies for the last decade (and did a PhD on immigration) I find the entrance of “remigration” into the mainstream American political lexicon so profoundly disturbing

I'm a veteran criminal justice reporter. I've never seen anything like ICE-occupied Memphis. “It’s about as sad as you can possibly imagine."

@samanthamichaels.bsky.social hid out with an immigrant family in Memphis, where the federal onslaught of ICE officers has fundamentally reshaped daily life.

“I am more scared in the last month than in the last 20 years. I thought they were gonna kick down the door and take me away.”

A volunteer observing a traffic stop in Memphis ended up in jail. Should she have been arrested? Tennessee Highway Patrol and federal agents in an unmarked car pull away on Carrington Street after law enforcement arrested Jessica Chodor.

"Chodor was volunteering with Vecindarios901, a Memphis-based rapid response coalition."

"I [told the officers] I'm going to [..] film like I'm legally allowed to."

"Next thing I knew, I was on the ground."
#Tennessee #USA #Policing #Incarceration #Deportation #EthnicCleansing

A day and night in Memphis: Trump’s task force expands surveillance A child sitting in the backseat of a car pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol peeks through the window during a traffic stop at an Exxon located at Airways Boulevard and Winchester Road. Pho…

"Tears streamed down the woman's face."

"'This is a lot,' she said. 'I'm ready for (the task force) to leave."

"For these residents, the Memphis Safe Task Force has decreased their sense of safety in the community."
#Tennessee #USA #Policing #Deportation #EthnicCleansing

What it feels like when federal forces come to town Scenes from Washington D.C. since the National Guard deployment. Photos by Sara Duran for MLK50 The National Guard and 13 federal agencies have arrived in

What is it like when federal law enforcement agencies are deployed in your city?

"...there’s a chaos strategy...It’s an eerie feeling seeing state-sanctioned violence against the people," Fae X, an organizer in Washington D.C., told me.
mlk50.com/2025/10/03/w...

No school, no fresh air and isolated David spent eight months incarcerated at the Youth Justice and Education Center. Center portrait by Kevin Wurm / MLK50 / CatchLight Local / Report for

An important story from my colleague Rebecca Cadenhead @mlk50.com: No school, no fresh air and isolated mlk50.com/2025/10/01/n...

Expanding the Public Safety Workforce Cities across the country are exploring innovative ways to incorporate new professionals, such as community responders and community violence intervention professionals, into their existing public…

Cities across the country are exploring innovative ways to incorporate new professionals, such as community responders and community violence intervention professionals, into their existing public safety workforces to improve outcomes for communities:

“We don’t stand in fear today. We stand in faith. Resistance is not new to us. It is natural,” said Rachael Spriggs, Director of Powerbuilding at the Black Equity Alliance.

“Empire uses fear, despair and convenience…Get off the convenient sidelines and make this city an inconvenient place for empire to grow,” First Congo Church Pastor Tony Coleman said at the podium.

Organizers with the #FreeThe901 coalition are speaking now in front of the Shelby County Juvenile Court to refute Pres. Donald Trump and Gov. Bill Lee’s deployment of the #NationalGuard in Memphis.

Text ‘Free901’ to 25225 to stay connected with the movement.

Israel’s justification for Gaza hospital attack false, Reuters probe finds Israel falsely claimed a Hamas camera was the target of a deadly strike that killed 22 people, including journalists.

Israel falsely claimed a Hamas camera was the target of a deadly strike that killed 22 people, including journalists.

Slouching into fascism Are we already past the tipping point?

The United States’ move to authoritarianism will not be overnight, there will be no official announcement. We must recognize the signs & act accordingly to provide fierce pushback, following the lead of local organizers and social justice movements.

Our Response to Mississippi’s Age Assurance Law - Bluesky A new Mississippi law requires us to block full access to Bluesky unless all users complete age checks. We have concerns about this law’s implementation.

With legal challenges to this law pending, we cannot justify building the expensive required infrastructure.

For now, we have made the difficult decision to block access in Mississippi.

To learn more, read our blog post:

Unfortunately, Bluesky is unavailable in Mississippi right now, due to a new state law that requires age verification for all users.

While intended for child safety, we think this law poses broader challenges & creates significant barriers that limit free speech & harm smaller platforms like ours.