City council members in Memphis, Tennessee, are calling for the municipal government to decline any request to provide former president Donald Trump a police escort when he visits the city for a speaking engagement next month, citing the ex-president’s long history as a deadbeat who has stiffed local governments after using local police resources.
In an interview with a local NBC affiliate, Councilmember Martavius Jones said politics have nothing to do with why he’s calling for the city to refuse a police escort for the former president and his Secret Service detail.
“He’s notorious for not paying,” he said. “When you talk about these rallies, there are huge expenses that various jurisdictions have to pay, and these expenditures are not being reimbursed by the Trump campaign or Trump organization”.
According to the Centre for Public Integrity, Mr Trump’s campaign ran up nearly $2m in unpaid bills for police services and other services provided by local governments during his 2020 re-election campaign.
More than two years later, officials in El Paso, Texas say the Trump campaign still owes $570,000 for costs associated with one of his 2019 campaign rallies.
The city of Albuquerque, New Mexico also reportedly sent a bill directly to the ex-president’s Florida home after his campaign refused to pay a $211,000 bill incurred when city employees had to be given paid time off to vacate their workstations during a Trump rally, which also required city expenditures for police overtime and security barriers.
Another city council member, JB Smiley, said he and Mr Jones would introduce a resolution asking the Memphis Police Department not to provide any resources for Mr Trump’s visit.
“As we know, the Memphis Police Department is already experiencing a shortage of officers to patrol our communities. I do not believe that it is a prudent use of police manpower and Memphians’ taxpayer dollars to escort the former president to an event in Mississippi,” Mr Smiley said in a statement.
