The Shelby County Commission – based in Memphis, Tennessee – unanimously voted to reinstate their Democratic state representative after he was removed from the House last Thursday, becoming the second expelled member to return to the Legislature.

The GOP-held Tennessee House voted 69-26 to boot Rep. Justin Pearson after joining in with anti-gun protesters in the chamber after the Nashville school shooting. The commission voted 7-0 to reappoint Pearson to his seat following Nashville metro council’s unanimous vote Monday to reinstate Rep. Justin Jones.

Pearson and Jones will serve as interim members ahead of the special elections – which they both intend to run in – to fill the newly vacant seats. Tennessee’s state Constitution grants the local authorities this power via article 2, section 15.

“The two governing bodies will make the decision as to who they want to appoint to these seats. Those two individuals will be seated as representatives as the constitution requires,” House Speaker Cameron Sexton previously said in a statement provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Pearson was one of three Democratic House members who protested for gun control and chanted from a bullhorn in the well of the chamber, “power to the people,” “no action, no peace,” and “gun control now.” The Republican-controlled Legislature proposed resolutions to expel the three members on the grounds that they disrupted the session and “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor.”

Both the Memphis and Nashville members were booted, but Knoxville state Rep. Gloria Johnson was spared when the resolution failed to achieve a two-thirds vote. Jones claimed the House’s efforts were attempts to remove two young black members and one female from office, and Johnson said “it might have to do with the color of our skin” when reporters asked why the two men were expelled and she – a white woman – was not.

Protesters flooded the state Capitol on March 30 days after 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender and used “he/him” pronouns, shot and killed three students and three adults at a private Christian institution. Hale, a former student of The Covenant School, might have held some “resentment” and was reportedly undergoing medical treatment for an undisclosed “emotional disorder.”

The legislators have garnered widespread media coverage and are being referred to as the “Tennessee Three” on social media. They’ve been invited to the White House, met with President Joe Biden via conference call and received a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris.

Following his expulsion, Pearson gave a sermon on Easter Sunday at the Church of the River in Memphis, Tennessee, preaching gun control and transgender rights for children. He opened with praying to the “Mother God” and noted that Jesus’ story gives hope to “persecuted people” who are anti-gun and trans health care advocates.

Jones, Pearson and Johnson did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Mary Lou Masters

Latest posts by Mary Lou Masters (see all)

• Dem megadonor linked to Epstein bankrolling effort to kick RFK Jr. off ballot - April 24, 2024
• New poll shows Trump getting bump in five crucial battleground states - April 24, 2024
• Senate passes foreign aid package, bill that could ban TikTok - April 23, 2024

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.