Justin Pearson, the Tennessee Democrat who was ousted from elected office by fellow House Republicans for protesting gun violence at the state Capitol, was restored to his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to return Pearson to the House in a decisive rebuke of the Tennessee Republican Party’s unusual move to expel him, along with another Democratic colleague, last week.
Pearson gave a powerful speech immediately after the vote to reinstate him, rallying his supporters and sending a message to the lawmakers who voted to fire him.
“What we’ve shown here in Shelby County, and what we’ve shown here in Memphis, Tennessee, with my fiancé and my brothers and my family and my parents and my family here, is that we don’t speak alone,” Pearson said. “We talk together. We fight together.
“And here’s the message to all the people in Nashville who decided to kick us out: You can’t kick out hope. You can’t kick out justice. You can’t kick out our voice. And you certainly can’t kick out our fight.” He said to cheers.
“We look forward to continuing the struggle, continuing the advocacy, until justice flows like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing river,” Pearson continued. “Let’s get back to work.”
The 28-year-old lawmaker was sworn in Thursday morning outside the state Capitol.
Pearson, who represents a Memphis area, and another Democrat, Justin Jones, who represents Nashville, were kicked out of the House on Thursday for protesting gun violence after three 9-year-olds and three adults were killed in another mass shooting in Tennessee. Rep. Gloria Johnson, a Democrat who also participated in the protest, narrowly escaped expulsion by one vote. Pearson and Jones are two young black men serving their first terms in the House of Representatives. Johnson is a white woman in her fourth term.
Republicans have accused them of seriously violating House decorum by peacefully protesting, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton went so far as to liken their actions to the violent insurrection of January 6, even though there was no violence, no property damage, and no Any violence or property damage. No arrests.
Jones was returned to his seat by the Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County on Monday. Surrounded by a crowd of supporters, Jones then returned to Capitol Hill and took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.