No Kings march rallies Dems. Young stresses crime-decline timeline. Trump cagey in governor’s race.
State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, center, and KeShaun Pearson, right, attempt to deal with Memphis police officers at the end of the No Kings protest at Robert Church Park on Saturday, March 28, 2026. (Brad Vest/Special to The Daily Memphian)
In this week’s political roundup:
- The violent end of Saturday’s No Kings march comes as some Democrats are calling for a reckoning among their own over the Memphis Safe Task Force presence.
- Mayor Paul Young draws the same line on his controversial engagement with the Task Force.
- Notes from President Donald Trump’s time in the city.
- County mayoral contender John DeBerry on the Republican theme of takeovers.
- Democratic county mayoral contender Melvin Burgess criticizes a Memphis-Shelby County Schools state takeover and two primary rivals.
‘No Kings’ rally and skirmish includes calls for Democratic reckoning
Before the No Kings march Saturday, March 28 — before the pepper spray and the arrests — some of the speakers at the rally in Robert Church Park were calling for voters to do more than vote Republicans out of office.
They were also calling for this year’s elections to be a reckoning for local Democrats.
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No Kings JB Smiley Jr. Andre Johnson Justin J. Pearson Memphis Safe Task Force Paul Young John DeBerry Melvin Burgess Jr. Subscriber OnlyThank you for reading The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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