In early July, Miles Tamboli, owner of Tamboli's Pasta & Pizza in midtown Memphis, announced he would not serve the national guard deployed by the Trump administration. The video announcement came after troops killed two city residents, bringing the total to four since the initiative began in September.
After a post by activist Hunter Demster highlighted Tamboli's stance, conservative accounts like Libs of TikTok and Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes called for a boycott. However, days later, the restaurant opened with a full house and a line by 5:30 p.m. Waitstaff said the shop was never that crowded that early; extra crew was brought in.
Business is up "a great amount," Tamboli said. Patrons expressed support. "While I do not blame the national guard for being in Memphis since it was not their choice, I stand by businesses refusing service as a form of resistance and protest," said Sarah Jones, eating pizza with her family. She noted police overreaction and exhaustion limit public protests, pointing to police firing teargas at a No Kings march.
Community Backing
Another patron, Carol Bigam, retired from FedEx, said, "If you have a business – a small family-owned business – that says, 'You know what, I'm sorry, I can't serve you, I just don't believe you should be here,' it really should be OK. Is he not allowed free speech? He was very professional about it. Give me a break, man."
After Donald Trump announced the federal taskforce in Memphis last year, Tennessee's Republican governor, Bill Lee, activated the national guard, which conducts high-visibility patrols on Beale Street and elsewhere downtown. Questions about the value of sending over a thousand federal agents into a city with declining violent crime emerged immediately. Unlike Chicago or Los Angeles, Memphis and Shelby county governments have largely acquiesced to the presence of federal agents running traffic stops and armed troops on sidewalks.
Fatal Shootings Erode Detente
This summer, a string of fatal shootings by federal law enforcement has begun to erode public tolerance. On 13 May, Memphis Safe Task Force agents shot and killed 41-year-old Darrin Pigram while serving an arrest warrant at a Burger King. On 21 May, taskforce officers responded to a report of an armed man threatening self-harm; a homeland security special agent killed 25-year-old Jonah Neal. Around 4 a.m. on 5 July, national guard soldiers fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson as he was pursued by police. Three days later, DEA agents with the task force killed 47-year-old Alphonso Ivy at a Memphis motel.
People may not be willing to brave armed forces on the streets, but buying pizza is easy. "People are going to participate in a much less public endeavor," Jones said. "So they'll do the 901 boycott, or they'll do the 901 'buy-cott', but they're not going to put their lives on the line."
Tamboli has faced rightwing review bombing on Google and threats of violence against him, his wife, and child, who are now staying elsewhere. He said detractors are unhinged. He briefly engaged with one, thanking them for attention; the person responded with a screenshot of a conversation with Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok. "He had asked Grok if it was possible that Tamboli's was doing well this week, and Grok said no. And he took a screenshot of that and sent it back to me, calling me a liar," Tamboli said. "I feel like that tells you everything you need to know about this group of people and their hold on reality."
