A person accused of trespassing on the dwelling of the Memphis, Tennessee, mayor has been charged with tried kidnapping and stalking, based on police, who stated the suspect had a Taser, gloves, rope and duct tape in his car on the time of his arrest.
The suspect — 25-year-old Trenton Abston — allegedly admitted to going to the mayor’s dwelling to confront him about crime in Memphis, based on the criticism affidavit, which alleged that he took “substantial steps towards the fee of a kidnapping” involving town’s mayor.
The suspect was apprehended and charged after police investigated “suspicious exercise” in Mayor Paul Younger’s neighborhood, the Memphis Police Division stated Wednesday.
“On Sunday evening, round 9:30 pm, a person jumped a wall main into our subdivision,” Younger stated in a press release. “We now know that he walked straight to our dwelling, knocking on the door with gloves on, a full pocket, and a nervous demeanor.”
Younger was dwelling on the time, based on the affidavit. After somebody knocked on his door, the mayor checked out his Ring doorbell video and noticed an unknown man “sporting a hoodie and gloves standing at his door with a lumpy bulge in his hoodie pocket,” the affidavit said.
“Paul Younger reported that he didn’t know the male and his presence at his door at a late hour sporting a hoodie and gloves put him, his spouse and youngsters in worry for his or her security,” the affidavit said.
The person fled when nobody answered the door, based on the affidavit.
Surveillance footage confirmed that the person went on to the mayor’s residence upon scaling the wall and didn’t strategy some other dwelling within the neighborhood, based on the Memphis Police Division. His face was “clearly captured” within the Ring footage, based on the affidavit.
The reserving picture for Trenton Abston.
Memphis Police Division
Police recognized Abston as an individual of curiosity within the case on Tuesday by legislation enforcement databases, and Abston’s employer positively recognized him within the footage from the evening of the incident, based on the affidavit. Abston’s car was additionally captured in video methods close to Younger’s residence “on a number of events between Might and June 2025, together with the evening of the incident,” the affidavit said.
Officers detained Abston at his place of employment with out incident and located a hoodie and gloves in his car matching what was seen within the Ring footage, based on the affidavit. A Taser, roll of duct tape, and white rope had been additionally discovered within the car, police stated.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Abston allegedly admitted to researching Younger’s tackle and going to the mayor’s residence Sunday evening to “confront Paul Younger about crime within the metropolis of Memphis and said that he was offended at Paul Younger and was armed with a Taser when he went to the residence,” the affidavit said.
Abston has been charged with tried kidnapping, stalking and aggravated prison trespass, police stated. He’s detained on the Shelby County Sheriff’s Workplace jail and is scheduled to seem in court docket on Friday, on-line jail information present. It’s unclear if he has an legal professional presently.
The Memphis Police Division credited the “fast response” of its officers and the surveillance footage all through the neighborhood with rapidly figuring out, finding and arresting the suspect.
“We perceive the issues raised by this incident and need to reassure the general public that the Memphis Police Division stays totally dedicated to the protection of all residents, together with our metropolis’s elected officers,” the division stated in a press launch. “We take any potential menace critically and can proceed to behave swiftly and totally.”
The incident comes amid heightened issues over violence towards elected officers, after two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses had been shot on Saturday in what prosecutors known as “political assassinations.” Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, had been killed, and Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his spouse, Yvette, had been wounded within the assaults.
Younger, who has served as Memphis’ mayor since January 2024, cited the Minnesota shootings whereas making a plea that political violence “can’t turn into our norm.”
“In at this time’s local weather, particularly after the tragic occasions in Minnesota and the threats my spouse and I typically obtain on-line, none of us may be too cautious,” Younger stated in a press release on Instagram whereas sharing a photograph of him and his household. “The hyperlink between offended on-line rhetoric and real-life violence is turning into simple.”
“Let’s do higher,” he added. “Let’s elevate our discourse, cut back the hate, and defend each other — regardless of our beliefs. Let’s reclaim our power as one neighborhood. Let’s select love.”
