Recording Law Enforcement is a First Amendment Right

Memphis Residents Challenge Pattern of Retaliation for Recording Memphis Safe Task Force Agents

MEMPHIS – Four Memphis residents filed suit in federal court to stop the Memphis Safe Task Force from retaliating against them for exercising their First Amendment right to film the Task Force’s immigration and law enforcement activity. The Task Force is comprised of numerous federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), and the U.S. Marshals, as well as the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
“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,” said Hunter Demster, plaintiff. “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.”
Since September 2025, thousands of federal, state, and local agents have flooded the streets of Memphis as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a 31-agency Task Force that has aggressively patrolled the city at the invitation of Governor Bill Lee. Agents and officers working with the Memphis Safe Task Force have terrorized local communities, conducting mass traffic stops and large-scale immigration arrests.
With Task Force abuses upending daily life in Memphis — a city already rocked by historic and pervasive law enforcement violence — ordinary Memphians have taken to the streets to observe and record their activities. While observing and recording Task Force activities, civilians have reported a disturbing and pervasive pattern of retaliation. Allegations include:

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.

Observers being tailed, stopped, and subjected to questioning without reasonable suspicion of a crime after observing Task Force activity.

“Recording publicly visible law enforcement activity is a core First Amendment right,” said Scarlet Kim, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “Like folks in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere across the country, Memphis residents have picked up their phones and cameras to document the massive influx of law enforcement officers into their community.
“In response, the Memphis Safe Task Force has relentlessly subjected these individuals to intimidation, harassment, and retaliation. We are going to court to seek relief against this egregious suppression of First Amendment protected activity.”
The right to record law enforcement officers performing their duties in public has been widely recognized and upheld by the courts. Such video recordings have proven critical to accomplishing the First Amendment’s core purposes: the free discussion of government affairs, the exposure of government misconduct, and democratic pushes for government accountability and policy change.
“Sunlight is a powerful disinfectant for a government that abuses its power in darkness,” said Zee Scout (she/her), staff attorney at the ACLU of Tennessee. “Our clients have bravely shined a light on the daily abuses the Memphis Safe Task Force perpetuates against Memphians when it thinks no one is watching, and they have often experienced harm in response. But the Constitution forbids this sort of retaliation. Memphis has a long history of peaceful resistance in response to systemic government violence, and it will not be cowed by this latest attempt.”
The complaint also seeks to challenge the Task Force’s unlawful application of the state’s “Halo Law,” which criminalizes approaching law enforcement within twenty-five feet after one warning. Task Force agents have repeatedly used the law to prevent non-obstructive observers, including our plaintiffs, from gathering information and recording their operations.
“Courts have repeatedly upheld the right to record law enforcement in public spaces, because our government is ultimately accountable to the people,” said Faith E. Gay of Selendy Gay PLLC. “Exercising First Amendment rights should not result in arrests, intimidation, or surveillance, and yet that is exactly what is happening to people in Memphis. The pattern of unconstitutional retaliation is severe and chilling, and our brave clients are standing up to these unlawful intimidation tactics to defend their neighbors and the First Amendment.”
“The right to record our government is critical to a functioning democracy and public debate,” said Matthew Borden of BraunHagey & Borden LLP. “The footage of the killings of George Floyd, Renee Good, and Alex Pretti prove that civilians’ ability to document abuses and speak truth to power using their camera phones can act as a fundamental check on government power. This suit seeks to stop the government from monopolizing the marketplace of ideas through armed intimidation and a ‘Halo Law’ that prevents people from exercising their right to record.”
The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, the ACLU Foundation of Tennessee, Selendy Gay PLLC, and BraunHagey & Borden LLP in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. The named defendants include Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the heads of DHS, ICE, CBP, the U.S. Marshals, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol.