Nashville’s governing council voted to reinstate one of the two Black Democrats expelled last week from the GOP-led House in Tennessee.
Rep. Justin Jones was reinstated following a unanimous vote that sent him back into the Legislature after he was expelled four days before by Republicans.
Following his reinstatement, Jones marched several blocks to the Capitol to take the oath of office while supporters sang “This Little Light of Mine.”
Applause erupted when he entered the chamber with Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, who was also targeted for expulsion but spared by one vote, The Hill reported.
“To the people of Tennessee, I stand with you,” Jones said in his first statement on the House floor. “We will continue to be your voice here. And no expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us, but it will only galvanize and strengthen our movement. And we will continue to show up in the people’s house.”
“Power to the people,” he shouted. Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton told Jones’ supporters in the galleries to “please refrain from disrupting the proceedings.”
Republicans cast Jones and fellow lawmaker Justin Pearson for their part in a gun-control protest on the House floor following a deadly school shooting.
Pearson is up for reappointment Wednesday.
After receiving national attention, the two expelled lawmakers have since raised thousands of campaign dollars, and the Tennessee Democratic Party received a new jolt of support from around the country.
However, Jones’ appointment is on an interim basis. Special elections for the seats will happen in the coming months, which both Jones and Pearson plan on running for.
Pearson told reporters Monday that “the lessons that we’ve gotten here is that people power works.”
“It is because thousands — millions — of people have decided that they will march, they will lift up their voices and elevate them to end gun violence to protect our communities and ensure that the voice of the people that we care to represent us are heard in the state Capitol and all across this country,” Pearson said.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison said they would welcome back Jones and Pearson if they are reinstated.
“Tennessee’s constitution provides a pathway back for expulsion,” they said in a statement. “Should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them. Like everyone else, they are expected to follow the rules of the House as well as state law.”
The two expelled lawmakers received support from many prominent leaders, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. They also called on skilled legal teams, including Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under former President Barack Obama and now represents Jones.
“The world is watching Tennessee,” attorneys for Jones and Pearson wrote to Sexton in a letter Monday. “Any partisan retributive action, such as the discriminatory treatment of elected officials, or threats or actions to withhold funding for government programs, would constitute further unconstitutional action that would require redress.”
Political tensions rose when Jones, Pearson, and Johnson joined hundreds of demonstrators at the Capitol last month to call for the passage of gun-control measures.
The lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and led the group in a chant. The scene came days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school where six people were killed, including three children.
Johnson, a white lawmaker from Knoxville, was spared expulsion by a single vote. Republican lawmakers said she received a split vote because she didn’t have a heavy role; for example, she didn’t speak into the megaphone.
However, Johnson suggested race was likely a factor in why Jones and Pearson were cast out and not her. She told reporters it “might have to do with the color of our skin.”
A claim GOP leaders have said had nothing to do with race but instead with what was “necessary” to avoid setting a precedent that disruptions of House proceedings would be tolerated in the future.
Still, expulsion, which has only been used a handful of times, is generally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not used as a weapon against political opponents.
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