Justin Jones' clashes with lawmakers expose bitter divisions on Capitol Hill

Table Of Content

• Pearson is now marching to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners
• Tennessee’s House expels two of three Democrats involved in gun control protest
• Sponsored legislation
• "You can't expel hope," Pearson says after vote to return him to Tennessee House
• What the backlash to student protests over Gaza is really about
• Who is Justin Jones?

"Today's expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent," Mr. Biden said. "Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly elected representatives of the people of Tennessee." During the meeting, Pearson is expected to be reappointed to the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 86th district on an interim basis. He was expelled from his seat last week after protesting gun violence on the House floor without being recognized.

Pearson is now marching to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners

Representative Gloria Johnson, a white lawmaker who joined the protest, narrowly survived her expulsion vote. Before Pearson returned to the chamber, lawmakers cheered and applauded as the police officers who responded to the deadly March 27 mass shooting at a Nashville elementary school shooting — the event that prompted the gun control protest — were honored in the chamber. Democratic state Rep. Bob Freeman praised the officers’ bravery but also stressed to his fellow lawmakers that “inaction is not an option” on how to respond to the tragedy. Pearson, Jones and Johnson, whom supporters call "The Tennessee Three," took to the House floor days after a 28-year-old assailant shot and killed six people at the Covenant elementary school in Nashville. As crowds of students and parents amassed at the legislature to urge new gun controls, the three lawmakers accused their Republican colleagues of inaction in the face of an epidemic of mass shootings.

Tennessee’s House expels two of three Democrats involved in gun control protest

Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson have both been reinstated to their seats by local county commissions. Jones and Pearson rose in opposition of a bill carried by Republicans that would amend a "divisive concepts" law passed last year. The law would add a mechanism to allow people to report "alleged violations" that occur at higher education institutions. More than 100 supporters gathered outside the Capitol to cheer on Pearson Thursday morning.

Sponsored legislation

Given the GOP rationale and context, Jones and Pearson’s expulsions were criticized locally and nationally as being anti-democratic and racist. The decision disenfranchised roughly 140,000 voters in Nashville and Memphis who elected both lawmakers, and marked a rare use of expulsions in the state. Civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers repeatedly called Republicans’ decision to expel two Black men and not the white woman racist, a critique the Tennessee GOP denies. Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two Democrats who were recently expelled from the Tennessee legislature over their participation in a gun control protest, have both officially been reinstated to their old seats. Jones was reinstated by the Nashville Metropolitan Council by a 36-0 vote on Monday, and Pearson was reinstated by the Shelby County Commission by a 7-0 vote on Wednesday. Jones was sworn back into his old seat on Monday evening, while Pearson is set to be sworn in this week as well.

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County officials voted on Wednesday to return Justin J. Pearson to the state legislature, less than a week after he and a colleague were expelled. Jones said Todd shoved into him near the well, leading Clemmons to call for a rules violation vote against Todd. Republicans easily voted it down, in addition to another rules violation call against a Rep. Jerome Moon, R-Maryville, for recording on the House floor, an official rule that is loosely followed most days. The House floor also fell into chaos after the vote over the bill, which was paused last year in the aftermath of the Covenant shooting and raucous protests over Republican supermajority inaction on gun issues.

In one meeting, the Oak Ridge Republican tried to cut Jones off after ruling that the Nashville lawmaker was veering off the topic of the bill being discussed. "There is no time that a state representative should look at a multi-decade state employee and call him a 'do-boy,'" Lamberth told NewsChannel 5 Investigates. The majority of US teachers think arming themselves with handguns would make schools less safe, according to a 2023 survey by the non-partisan Rand Corporation. More than half, 54%, thought schools would be made less safe if teachers could carry, and 26% said they did not think it would make a difference in school safety. The bill is headed to Bill Lee, Tennessee’s governor, who is expected to sign it.

The law would allow teachers, principals and faculty or staff of a school to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds if they have a permit and complete an annual training. Long-simmering tensions between members spilled over as Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, walked toward the well of the House chamber while recording on his phone. Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, rushed to the clerk's desk beside Jones to call Jones out of order. A scrum ensued, with lawmakers hurling accusations at each other and filing official out of order calls with the House clerk. Covenant parents have echoed widespread concern about the secrecy clause in the bill, which bars school administrators from revealing who in the school is armed except to relevant law enforcement and school staff who are responsible for campus security.

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But the biggest question remaining is whether lawmakers will strike a last-minute deal to expand its school voucher offerings. The original number of businesses who contacted lawmakers was disclosed at around 80, but at least one lawmaker stated that the law firm represented “hundreds” of individuals. Last fall, Republican legislative leaders say a law firm representing a large group of businesses contacted the state to question the legality of Tennessee’s 90-year-old franchise tax and demanded a refund. The House version would overhaul standardized testing for public school students, change teacher and principal evaluation requirements, cover more of the educators’ health insurance premiums, and phase out what are often known as turnaround districts for low-performing schools.

"I also think it’s a parent’s job to know if their child is being put at risk by having someone in the classroom with a firearm that another child could find, that could be discharged and actually harm them or other kids. "We worked with the Senate and representative sponsors of this bill to make it even a little bit safer — anything, really — and I'm utterly disappointed that that was not taken into consideration," she said. Sarah Shoop Neumann's letter criticized gaps in training and burdening teachers with the responsibilities of confronting an assailant with a gun while keeping an entire classroom safe.

In Tennessee, just eight lawmakers have been expelled from the house in the past. Six of those were Confederates who were expelled in the 19th century for refusing to affirm the citizenship of formerly enslaved Black people. In the 20th century, a legislator was expelled after being convicted of bribery, and in 2016, a member was expelled for sexual misconduct. Since that moment one week ago, the careers of the men have fused to create “the Justins,” a phenomenon that has dominated the national stage, merging a sprawling conversation on gun violence, race and democracy into one potent political package. Earlier this year, Justin Jones arrived at the State Capitol in Tennessee as a freshly elected lawmaker representing parts of Nashville. A 27-year-old Black Democrat, he belonged to a party vastly outnumbered by a largely white Republican majority.

Lawmakers are also nearing passage of a bill that would move control of the board that oversees Nashville’s airport from local appointments to selections by Republican state government leaders. After the reinstatement vote, a throng of jubilant supporters greeted Pearson outside in a churchlike celebration. Pearson adopted the cadence of a preacher as he delivered a rousing speech with call-and-response crowd interaction. Accompanied by his fianceé, mother and four brothers, Pearson pumped his fist, jumped up and down and hugged relatives. The shooting and aftermath have pushed some, including Republican Gov. Bill Lee, to support some changes. The move briefly left about 140,000 voters in primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis with no representation in the Tennessee House.

The Republican supermajority voted to punish Pearson and Jones, of Nashville, after they — alongside Johnson of Knoxville — broke procedural rules to lead a protest from the House floor calling for gun law reforms. Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has made universal school vouchers his top legislative priority. However, even with a GOP supermajority, the massive change faced an uphill battle as many rural lawmakers are hesitant about funneling limited public dollars away from local schools.

The passage of the bill comes a little more than a year since the Covenant School shooting in Nashville left six people dead, including three children. Dozens of protestors in the galleries began chanting "Blood on your hands" as soon as the legislation passed, prompting House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, to order state troopers to clear the galleries. Many protestors continued to chant and stomp down at lawmakers as the House floor fell into chaos over parliamentary issues. Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday passed legislation to allow some trained teachers and school staff to carry handguns despite pleas from Democrats, students and gun-reform advocates to defeat the bill.

The vote to remove the two lawmakers, who are Black, caused an uproar in the state with demonstrators coming out to support the young politicians. "On a more positive note, both Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, I think, showed the voters in their districts exactly why they should be reelected," Sanford said. "But also, it seems like they made themselves look like future political stars nationally."

After a brief spirited debate involving Pearson and Jones, Republicans used procedural rules to immediately halt discussion and force members to vote on the bill. The move exasperated Democrats, who immediately pointed out that cutting off debate and silencing dissenters was what led the so-called Tennessee three to break House rules after being cut off from previous debates. Republican Gov. Bill Lee has avoided commenting on the lawmakers’ expulsion and instead said the controversy was an issue concerning the House. He has since called on the General Assembly to pass legislation that would keep dangerous people from acquiring weapons. Banishment is a move the chamber has used only a handful times since the Civil War. Most state legislatures have the power to expel members, but it is generally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not used as a weapon against political opponents.

She represents the state's 90th district, part of Knox County, and is currently serving her fourth term in the legislature. Justin Pearson, 28, was the second member of the group to be expelled from the House and another of its youngest members. He was elected in a January 2023 special election after the incumbent, Barbara Cooper, had died. He represented the state's 86th district, which has about 64,000 residents and is part of Shelby County, where Memphis is located. Jones and Pearson have said that they participated in the protests specifically to speak out for constituents who felt they were not represented by the Tennessee legislature’s inaction on the issue after the mass shooting in Nashville. The legislature has said it does not plan to take up any gun control bills this year.