Memphis task force shooting is fifth; four of five have been fatal

Andre Wharton, an attorney for the family of Jonah Neal, said body camera footage shows a federal agent from the Memphis Safe Task Force was “unjustified” in fatally shooting the 25-year-old inside his Memphis apartment in May during a call for help with a mental health crisis.

Neal’s mother, Jessica Neal, told NPR she had called 911 on May 20 after finding her son holding her handgun and threatening suicide. The federal agent who opened fire worked for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is one of the federal agencies that have sent officers to Memphis to tackle local crime at the direction of President Trump and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.

Wharton said he and Jessica Neal were shown body camera footage by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. The footage was captured from the camera of a second agent rather than the one who opened fire, according to Wharton. In the video, agents were positioned near the apartment’s front door while Neal was at a significant distance, Wharton said. He said one agent could be heard saying Neal was not wielding a firearm but a knife; a second agent opened fire seconds later.

“It was unjustified in our opinion,” Wharton told NPR. He called the response “out of proportion with what they were facing” and said it appeared to reflect a “lack of good training and experience.” “The response that we were able to observe was just totally inconsistent with good law enforcement,” Wharton said.

According to Wharton, Jessica Neal can be heard in the footage telling federal agents her son was experiencing a mental crisis and needed help. At a Saturday press conference, Jessica Neal said her son did not harm anyone leading up to the shooting. “My son did not hurt anybody. And, within 30 seconds, she decided his life was not worth it,” she said, referring to the agent who opened fire.

The shooting is one of five by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force since the operation began last fall. Four of the five incidents, including Neal’s, turned deadly, according to state data. Wharton also represents the families of two other victims of federal agent-involved shootings, including Tyrin Johnson, who was fatally shot by National Guard troops on July 5.

State authorities have provided limited information about the shootings, including the names of the task force members who opened fire and whether they remain on duty. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office did not respond to NPR’s request to review the footage, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis, asked about the shootings, said in a statement that the task force has made more than 11,000 arrests and seized more than 2,000 firearms. “The Task Force has driven down violent crime in a city that had been failed by extreme Democrats soft on crime policies,” Bis said.

At the press conference, Neal’s grandmother Cindy Leachman Aldridge said her grandson was “not a lowlife, not a lawbreaker” and that she was committed to seeing justice for her family. “We’re not giving up,” she said. “We’re gonna have justice. We’re gonna have peace, and we are, we are not going away.”

Wharton said Neal’s family wants the case to be handled transparently and swiftly, and that how the investigation is conducted matters to the broader community. “Citizens are wondering, are these agencies … going to be able to do this without some accountability? Are they gonna be able to do this with impunity?” he said. “Or are the laws gonna apply equally to them?”

Family members described Jonah Neal as smart, quiet, caring and not an aggressive person, and said he had wanted to become a doctor before mental health issues emerged in his early 20s.