MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is responding to the release of that so-called “A-list” naming dozens of people required to be escorted by a police officer at city hall.
We first reported Friday night on the list, which includes local activists and even the mother of a man killed by a Memphis police officer.
The six-page list – each one signed by Strickland – bans those named from trespassing at his home.
A city spokesperson told WREG Saturday those people are on the list because they were involved in the “die-in” protest on Strickland’s lawn last December.
But activist Fergus Nolan, who was arrested during a protest last May outside the Memphis Zoo, says he wasn’t even at the “die-in” yet still found himself on that list.
“There were only about a half dozen people at the ‘die-in,’ so you do the math,” he said.
And Friday night, the city said the list also includes people who “pose a potential security risk” and that the names on the no-trespassing order Strickland signed were later added by MPD to the city hall list, which has been around for years.
Nolan – who was later cleared in the zoo protest – says the list is politically motivated and specifically targets activists.
“I think the evidence speaks for itself,” he said. “Read the list.”
Nolan is an outspoken critic of MPD, writing the blog “Memphis Truth Commission” and slamming police and Strickland on Facebook.
In a post last week in response to the Memphis Police Association’s controversial “Welcome to Memphis” billboards, he writes:
“The pigs themselves say that they can’t prevent homicides and are way overpaid for being doughnut repositories… We have about 1000 too many cops and they are being paid about three times what they’re worth.”
But still, Nolan argues he doesn’t deserve to be on that list.
“I don’t consider myself a security risk,” he said. “Neither does the FBI. I haven’t committed any crimes, I haven’t threatened any crimes.”
Other people on the list include Mary Stewart, the mother of Darrius Stewart, who was shot and killed by an MPD officer.
And activist DeVante Hill, who helped lead the Black Lives Matter protest that shut down the I-40 bridge.
WREG spoke with Hill Saturday, who says he has done so much to help the city through his nonprofit organization “One Memphis, One Vision” and that the mayor owes him an apology.
In a statement Saturday, the mayor said he’s never even seen the list at city hall and that he has asked MPD Director Mike Rallings to review the policy and meet with him next week to discuss next steps.
