Last week, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was in Memphis to talk about the Memphis Safe Task Force and what could come next.
This week, a federal judge quickly ruled to temporarily reverse meeting bans given to six anti-data center advocates by the Memphis City Council.
Reported crime in Memphis also continued to decline, following a years-long trend.
And Greg Diaz, a Memphis pastor and restaurant owner, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence.
Here's what else was on the docket for the week of Oct. 19, 2026.
Attorney General Todd Blanche comes to Memphis to tout Task Force
Blanche came to Memphis on Oct. 16 to tout the Memphis Safe Task Force's efforts. His visit marked the third directly tied to the Task Force by a sitting attorney general.
Now-former AG Pam Bondi came to Memphis to welcome
the Task Force at the start of October 2025, and she came back later to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Task Force. But on Oct. 16, Blanche flew to Memphis to commemorate the Task Force's first year of operation.
"I'm one of the few people out of Washington, DC, that has not been to Memphis since the start of the Task Force until today," Blanche said from the center of a U-shaped table set up inside the Task Force's base of operations near Shelby Farms. "So the president's been here, the directors of all our law enforcement agencies ― Gaddy's (U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta) basically lived here, I think he's gonna be a resident next year probably. So I'm really privileged and honored to be here today with everybody sitting at the table."
Joining Blanche at the table were officials from multiple federal, state and local law enforcement agencies — including the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, Department of Justice, Tennessee Highway Patrol, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Shelby County Sheriff's Office and Memphis Police Department.
Republican elected officials U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who is running against Democratic Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green for governor, U.S. Rep. David Kustoff, who is running for reelection in U.S. House District 8 against Democratic former Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn, and Tennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor, who is running for the House District 9 seat against Democratic state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, also were at the table.
Federal judge reverses Memphis City Council bans
A federal judge on Oct. 20 reversed the bans the Memphis City Council gave to a group of advocates who protested the Council's decision to delay voting on a data center moratorium.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas L. Parker for the Western District of Tennessee made the ruling just hours before the Council's next scheduled meeting.
Prior to filing his written ruling, Parker expressed skepticism over the bans during an Oct. 19 hearing. Parker said the City Council's reasoning "sounds like viewpoint discrimination or prior restraint."
"You're saying you know what these people have to say and what their views are," Parker said. He also seemed wary of the Council's belief that banning the perceived leaders of the protest would prevent a similar protest in upcoming meetings.
Parker, in his ruling, found the lawsuit's plaintiffs were "likely to succeed" on the merits of their case, indicating he believed the council's public comment decorum policy and the bans may have violated the First Amendment.
The lawsuit is being brought by six people: community advocates Amber Sherman and LJ Abraham, activist KeShaun Pearson and his mother Kimberly Owens-Pearson, a high school senior, whom The Commercial Appeal is not naming due to their being a minor, and Pearson.
Pearson, a Democrat, is in the midst of a contentious race for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Early voting for that race's general election began Oct. 14, the same day the lawsuit was filed, and Pearson has made data centers one of his campaign's focal points.
Though suing to lift their bans, the lawsuit will continue with its claims against the Council's public comment policies.
Memphis crime continues to decrease
Crime in Memphis is continuing to decrease, new data from the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission showed.
The Crime Commission releases crime statistics, which it receives from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, each quarter. The statistics do not show every category of crime, but provide an overview of major crime categories and show how overall crime compares to this time in previous years.
That data shows that Memphis has reported fewer major crimes from January through the end of September since 2020. Annual crime data previously collected by The Commercial Appeal showed that, when splitting the total crime in a year four ways evenly, Memphis has reported far fewer crimes through Sept. 30 than any year since 2010 through the first nine months of the year.
This is the second year straight Memphis has hit that benchmark, with crime at this point in 2025 being the previous low, since 2020 based on the Crime Commission numbers and since 2011 based on CA estimates.
Top Commercial Appeal courts, public safety stories readers have viewed
- From Oct. 1: Shelby County warehouse raids find 'tens of thousands' of kratom packs
- From Oct. 16: US AG Todd Blanche comes to Memphis to tout Trump Task Force successes
- From Oct. 20: Memphis pastor, restaurant owner Greg Diaz arrested for DUI
- From Oct. 15: TN Highway Patrol identifies 5 killed in crash with Memphis police car
- From Oct. 20: Federal judge reverses Memphis City Council bans before data center vote
Latest in Memphis' biggest cases
Federal court will be busy next week, with judges hearing about the future of two cases: the Tyré Nichols lawsuit and a lawsuit over the Memphis City Council's public comment policies.
Both cases have a status conference set, with the Nichols case set to meet on Oct. 26 and the City Council's case set for Oct. 29.
The Nichols case has been in limbo as the City of Memphis and RowVaughn Wells, Nichols' mother, prepare for trial next year. A series of motions about discovery and questions over expert witnesses have been filed and are yet to be ruled on.
Meanwhile, a far fresher case is still far from over despite the plaintiffs declaring victory. A group of anti-AI data center advocates was banned from two Memphis City Council meetings after protests broke out over delays to a vote. But just hours before the Oct. 20 Council meeting, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order.
That restraining order is in place for 14 days and lifted the ban for the Oct. 20 meeting. It also barred the Council from limiting some forms of speech during public comment for that same time period. Advocates heralded the temporary restraining order as a victory, but the case still has broader questions to answer, such as whether the Council's public comment policy is unconstitutional.
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Lucas Finton covers crime, policing, jails, the courts and criminal justice policy for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by phone or email: (901)208-3922 and Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, and followed on X @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Crime in Memphis down, federal judge rules against City Council bans
