Named After Slain Child, Operation Legend Leads to 2,000 Arrests, 147 for Murder, Since July

Operation Legend is named for LeGend Taliferro, a four-year-old boy who was shot and killed while he slept in his home on the morning of June 29 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Designated as a “sustained, systematic and coordinated law enforcement initiative,” Operation Legend has had remarkable success in under two months. Since the initiative was launched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 8, 2020, it has led to over 2,000 arrests across the nation, 147 of which were for murder.

Photo of LeGend Taliferro from The Justice Department

The operation surges law enforcement to major cities around the country where crime is on the rise. According to Fox News, “1,000 additional agents from the FBI, ATF, Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Marshals Service” were surged to nine different cities to help local law enforcement “crack cases.”

In addition to the 2,000 arrests, more than 544 firearms, seven kilos of fentanyl, 14 kilos of heroin, 12 kilos of cocaine, and 50 kilos of methamphetamine have been seized, according to a press release from the DOJ.

Of those arrested, 476 are being charged with federal offenses, the DOJ noted.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Justin Herdman told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday about the success that Operation Legend has had.

“We are not just arresting people for low-level warrants here,” Herdman said. “We’re talking about very violent fugitives, very violent criminals, and we’re getting them off the streets of these nine cities across the country.”

The cities include Kansas City and St. Louis, MO., Chicago, Ill., Albuquerque, NM., Cleveland, OH., Detroit, MI., Milwaukee, WI., Memphis, Tenn. and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Speaking at a press conference from Kansas City, Attorney General William Barr called Operation Legend “one of the most significant law enforcement operations in the Department of Justice.”

“LeGend is a symbol of the many hundreds of innocent lives that have been taken in the recent upsurge of crime in many of our urban areas. His life mattered, and the lives of all of those victims matter. His name should be remembered, and his senseless death, like those of all the other innocent victims in this recent surge, should be unacceptable to all Americans,” Barr resolutely said.

He added that the amount of fentanyl taken off the streets through Operation Legend was “enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Chicago and Detroit combined.”

In early August, a man was arrested and charged with murdering LeGend Taliferro.

“Although LeGend’s suspected murderer has been arrested, Operation Legend will go on,” Barr said in response to the arrest.

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Photo from The Justice Department

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