As the National Guard enters Memphis, memories of MLK and 1968 unrest resurface
October 11, 2025
As the National Guard enters Memphis, some longtime residents are recalling the thousands sent there in 1968. Back then, troops were responding to protests by striking sanitation workers that drew the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., then turned chaotic. A week later, the Guard was back after King was assassinated and uprisings arose across the nation. President Donald Trump said last month he would deploy the Guard and use of a slew of other federal agencies to fight crime in Memphis. A spokesman for the Tennessee Military Department says some Guard members are already assisting with community safety patrols, security and traffic control to help reduce crime.