A person accused of trespassing on the residence of the Memphis, Tennessee, mayor has been charged with tried kidnapping and stalking, in line with police, who mentioned 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 residence to confront him about crime in Memphis, in line with the criticism affidavit, which alleged that he took “substantial steps towards the fee of a kidnapping” involving the town’s mayor.
The suspect was apprehended and charged after police investigated “suspicious exercise” in Mayor Paul Younger’s neighborhood, the Memphis Police Division mentioned Wednesday.
“On Sunday night time, round 9:30 pm, a person jumped a wall main into our subdivision,” Younger mentioned in an announcement. “We now know that he walked straight to our residence, knocking on the door with gloves on, a full pocket, and a nervous demeanor.”
Younger was residence on the time, in line with the affidavit. After somebody knocked on his door, the mayor checked out his Ring doorbell video and noticed an unknown man “carrying 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 carrying a hoodie and gloves put him, his spouse and youngsters in concern for his or her security,” the affidavit said.
The person fled when nobody answered the door, in line with the affidavit.
Surveillance footage confirmed that the person went on to the mayor’s residence upon scaling the wall and didn’t method another residence within the neighborhood, in line with the Memphis Police Division. His face was “clearly captured” within the Ring footage, in line with the affidavit.
The reserving photograph for Trenton Abston.
Memphis Police Division
Police recognized Abston as an individual of curiosity within the case on Tuesday by means of legislation enforcement databases, and Abston’s employer positively recognized him within the footage from the night time of the incident, in line with the affidavit. Abston’s car was additionally captured in video techniques close to Younger’s residence “on a number of events between Could and June 2025, together with the night time 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, in line with the affidavit. A Taser, roll of duct tape, and white rope have been additionally discovered within the car, police mentioned.
After waiving his Miranda rights, Abston allegedly admitted to researching Younger’s tackle and going to the mayor’s residence Sunday night time to “confront Paul Younger about crime within the metropolis of Memphis and said that he was indignant 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 legal trespass, police mentioned. 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 at the moment.
The Memphis Police Division credited the “fast response” of its officers and the surveillance footage all through the neighborhood with shortly 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 security of all residents, together with our metropolis’s elected officers,” the division mentioned in a press launch. “We take any potential menace severely and can proceed to behave swiftly and totally.”
The incident comes amid heightened issues over violence in opposition to elected officers, after two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses have been shot on Saturday in what prosecutors known as “political assassinations.” Democratic Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, have been killed, and Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his spouse, Yvette, have 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 develop into our norm.”
“In in the present day’s local weather, particularly after the tragic occasions in Minnesota and the threats my spouse and I usually obtain on-line, none of us could be too cautious,” Younger mentioned in an announcement on Instagram whereas sharing a photograph of him and his household. “The hyperlink between indignant 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 — irrespective of our beliefs. Let’s reclaim our energy as one group. Let’s select love.”
