Newly released surveillance footage shows members of the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shooting Burger King worker Darrin Pigram during an attempted arrest and contradicts the official account used to justify the killing.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy released the footage July 22 alongside a decision declining to prosecute DEA Special Agent Levy Blandon, concluding that the use of deadly force was legally justified. The officers involved were not wearing body cameras, making the restaurant surveillance footage the only known video of the shooting.
Blandon killed Pigram, 41, on May 13 while officers were serving an arrest warrant at a Burger King in Memphis’ Frayser neighborhood. According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Blandon fired after Pigram “reached for a gun in his waistband.”
The footage shows several armed DEA agents entering the restaurant shortly after 9:20 am with rifles and handguns drawn. It also shows Pigram backing away with his hands raised before Blandon opened fire, shooting him eight times.
Because the restaurant cameras are stationary, portions of the encounter occurred outside the cameras’ view. Mulroy said those gaps prevented the footage from disproving the officers’ account that Pigram reached toward his waistband immediately before the shooting.
Pigram’s family disputes that conclusion. After viewing the footage, his brother, Melvin Jamison, told the Tennessee Lookout, “The video my family saw did not show my brother reaching for a gun or posing a threat toward the officer.” He added, “We were so confused with the footage we watched and how they could come up with that story behind it.” The footage also shows Pigram’s coworkers pleading with officers before fleeing the restaurant.
In his letter declining prosecution, Mulroy wrote that “the use of deadly force was legally justified and that the evidence does not support a reasonable likelihood of conviction.” The letter misspelled Pigram’s name and incorrectly listed the date of the shooting.
Pigram’s killing was the first of four fatal shootings by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force in less than two months. Since May, task force officers have also killed Jonah Neal, Tyrin Johnson and Alfonso Ivy—all Black men. According to the Tennessee Lookout, the task force has been responsible for four of Tennessee’s 18 fatal police shootings in 2026.
Created through a presidential memorandum in September 2025, the Memphis Safe Task Force combines personnel from federal agencies including the DEA, FBI, ICE, the US Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations, along with the Tennessee National Guard. President Donald Trump said the task force was created to “smash the grip of the violent criminals on this iconic American city.”
The task force has since expanded into a large-scale federal policing operation. According to the Tennessee Lookout, it has grown to roughly 2,700 personnel and has been involved in more use-of-force incidents than any other state or local law enforcement agency in Tennessee since its launch.
Reporting by MLK50 and ProPublica found that the task force made more than 1,700 arrests in its first month. During its first two weeks, it deployed more than 1,500 personnel, made 854 arrests and issued 4,160 traffic citations. Despite officials’ claims that the operation focused on violent crime, an analysis of one day of arrest records found that nearly three-quarters of those arrested were not charged with violent offenses.
Pigram’s family continues to demand Blandon’s firing and the full public release of evidence surrounding the shooting, including information about whether a firearm was recovered from the scene.
Image: A vigil for Darrin Pigram. Credit: The Worker.
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