What is Operation Legend?

In June of 2020, a four-year-old boy named LeGend Taliferro was shot and killed in his sleep. Following this tragedy in Kansas City, Missouri, President Trump, alongside Attorney General William Barr, launched Operation Legend in July.

This task force was created to bring together multiple government bodies – FBI, US Marshal Service, DEA, and ATF – to crack down on violent crime across the nation. As described by Attorney General Barr:

President Trump has made clear: the federal government stands ready and willing to assist any of our state and local law enforcement partners across the nation responding to violent crime. Operation Legend will combine federal and local resources to combat the disturbing uptick in violence by surging federal agents and other federal assets into cities like Kansas City, a city currently experiencing its worst homicide rate in its history.

Initially, Operation Legend focused its efforts in Kansas City, which has seen a 40% increase in homicides from 2019.

Within the same month of launching, the operation was expanded to Chicago, Albuquerque, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee – with the latter city seeing an 85% increase in homicides from the previous year.

In September, Attorney General Barr stated:

...since launching Operation Legend in Chicago on July 22, the homicide rate has declined significantly. In fact, when comparing the seven weeks prior to the operation's launch with the five weeks immediately following the launch, homicides in Chicago declined 50%.

By mid-August, the operation had expanded two more times to include Memphis, St. Louis, and Indianapolis.

At a roundtable on October 14th, Barr announced more than 5,000 arrests, just three months after launching. Crimes included homicide, firearm, and drug-related offenses. Of those arrested, approximately 1,057 have been charged.

The number of charges has been reported frequently and broken down by city: