MEMPHIS -- The second of two Black Democrats expelled from the Republican-led Tennessee House will return to the Legislature after a Memphis commission voted to reinstate him Wednesday, nearly a week after his banishment for supporting gun control protesters propelled him into the national spotlight.
Hundreds of supporters marched Justin Pearson of Memphis through his home city to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting, chanting and cheering before entering the commission chambers, where officials quickly voted 7-0 to restore him to his position.
"The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel justice," Pearson said at the meeting, his voice rising as he spoke. "You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight."
"I want to commend you for standing up for the things that matter to the people of Shelby County and the state of Tennessee," Commissioner Shante Avant said to Pearson at Wednesday's board hearing. "You have done well by us in making sure that our voices can be heard."
The House's vote last Thursday to remove Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville but keep white Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville drew accusations of racism. Johnson survived by one vote. The Republican leadership denied that race was a factor.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and four other senators sent a letter Wednesday asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether the expulsions violated the Constitution or federal civil rights laws and "to take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation's legislative bodies."
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.
"We've got people that we have an allegiance to, who are willing to march for justice, who are willing to fight for justice, who are willing to vote for justice, and it is that spirit which I will head back to Nashville with," Pearson said after the vote, surrounded by his family.
"You can't expel hope," he added. "You can't expel justice."
"They've awakened a sleeping giant," he said, as a drumbeat and roaring cheers echoed his voice.
Pearson is expected to return to the state Capitol in Nashville today, when the House holds its next floor session, and plans to be sworn in there.
Republicans expelled Pearson and Jones over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor after a Nashville school shooting that left three children and three adults dead. The Nashville Metropolitan Council took only a few minutes Monday to unanimously restore Jones to office. He was quickly reinstated to his House seat.
Shelby County's commission has 13 members, but only seven voted -- all Democrats in favor of Pearson. Two Democrats were out of the country and did not vote. The four Republicans on the commission did not attend the meeting.
The appointments are interim and special elections for the seats will take place in the coming months. Jones and Pearson have said they plan to run in the special elections.
Marcus DeWayne Belton said he attended the rally outside the Shelby County government building after the vote because he supports Pearson's call for gun law reform.
"It's not even a Black thing anymore," he said of gun violence. "This is Black and white. Any time you go inside a school and you're killing kids, Black and white, it's serious. Things are getting worse."
The expulsions made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. In the span of a few days, the two expelled lawmakers had raised thousands of campaign dollars, and the Tennessee Democratic Party had received a new jolt of support from across the U.S.
Political tensions rose when Pearson, Johnson and Jones on the House floor joined with hundreds of demonstrators who packed the Capitol last month to call for passage of gun control measures.
As protesters filled galleries, the lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant. The scene unfolded days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian school. Their participation from the front of the chamber broke House rules because the three did not have permission from the House speaker.
While protesters continue to pressure the legislature to move to tighten access to guns in the state, Republican lawmakers have largely focused on legislation that would pour millions of dollars into security at public and private schools. But on Tuesday, Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, announced that he would sign an executive order tightening background checks for buying guns in the state and speeding up the process of reviewing criminal histories and mental health information from the courts.
Lee also called on the legislature to draft and pass what he described as "an order of protection law" that would ensure that people found by a judge to be a danger to themselves or others would not have access to guns. He repeatedly declined to refer to the measure as a red flag law, a term some conservatives have resisted on the state and the national level, instead describing it as "a law that I think is appropriate for our state today."
He has been open about the personal impact of the attack at the Covenant School: His wife, Maria, was close friends with Cindy Peak, one of the staff members killed, and the two women were set to have dinner the night of the shooting.
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, a Republican, has also expressed support for a red flag law after the Covenant School shooting. Police officials had pointedly noted that while the parents of the shooter believed their child should not own any guns, particularly while receiving treatment for an unspecified emotional disorder, there was no law in Tennessee that could have allowed them to confiscate any weapons.
"The governor is right to make this a priority before session ends," said state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat and the minority leader. She added, "We are ready to work with the governor, and we urge our Republican colleagues in the legislature to move quickly to put gun reform legislation on his desk."
Some Republicans in the state legislature have signaled opposition, warning that such a law could deprive people of individual due process. Nearly 20 states have passed a version of a red flag law, many of them after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Fla.
The Tennessee Firearms Association, however, declared that "this is not a time to follow a call to passing something, anything now to show the 'mob' that Tennessee government responds to emotional calls for gun control."
When Lee announced support for legislation toughening school security this month, he was flanked by his Republican colleagues. But on Tuesday, he stood alone at a Metropolitan Nashville Police precinct, in front of a banner thanking officers for their swift response to the Covenant School attack. That unaccompanied appearance raised questions about the depth of Republican support for taking weapons away from people deemed to be dangerous.
"It's going to require coming together, laying down our previously held positions potentially, and it really is just going to require finding the things that we agree upon together," Lee said. But he acknowledged that the General Assembly "will determine what that process looks like for them."
STATE LEGISLATION
In their return to the Tennessee Capitol, Pearson and Jones still face the same political divisions between the state's few Democratic strongholds and the Republican supermajority, which were already reaching boiling point before the expulsions.
GOP members this year introduced a wave of punishing proposals to strip away Nashville's autonomy. Others have pushed to abolish the state's few community oversight boards that investigate police misconduct and replace them with advisory panels that would be blocked from investigating complaints.
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.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Cameron Sexton's office confirmed this week that a Republican lawmaker was stripped of a top committee assignment more than a month after he asked during a hearing if "hanging by a tree" could be added to the state's execution methods. The speaker's office declined to specify the reason for removing him from the committee.
Rep. Paul Sherrell was taken off the Criminal Justice Committee and transferred to another, and was "very agreeable" to the change, Sexton spokesman Doug Kufner said.
Sherrell, who is white, later apologized for what he said amid outcry from Black lawmakers, who pointed to the state's dark history of lynching. Sherrell said his comments were "exaggerated" to show "support of families who often wait decades for justice."
Pearson has referenced Sherrell's comments throughout the expulsions and their aftermath. On Wednesday, Pearson said Sexton should resign his post, asserting the House speaker is "more willing to expel people who are asking for the end of gun violence than expel a member of the House who advocated for lynching."
Information for this article was contributed by Adrian Sainz, Jonathan Mattise and Kimberlee Kruesi of The Associated Press and by Emily Cochrane of The New York Times.
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson attends a rally at the National Civil Rights Museum on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to reinstate Pearson as a state representative.(Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)
Justin Pearson arrives at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., before marching to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, where it is expected Pearson will be reinstated to his position in the Tennessee House. (Chris Day /The Commercial Appeal via AP)
Justin Pearson and his fiancé Oceana Gillian arrive at the Shelby County Board of Commissioners building in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to reinstate Pearson as a state representative. (Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal via AP)
Justin Pearson hugs a supporter in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, after he was reappointed to the Tennessee House of Representatives. ( he Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to reinstate Pearson as a state representative. (Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal via AP)
Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones raise their fists in solidarity at a rally to support of Pearson on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. A Shelby County Board of Commissioners committee approved a resolution Wednesday morning that clears the way for an afternoon vote by the full commission on whether Pearson will get his seat back. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)
Justin Pearson and his supporters march to the Shelby County Board of Commissioners meeting in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, where he will be reinstated to his position in the Tennessee House of Representatives. (Chris Day /The Commercial Appeal via AP)
Justin Pearson celebrates with supporters after being reinstated to the the Tennessee House of Representatives by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners building in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Republicans expelled Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones last week over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor after a Nashville school shooting that left three children and three adults dead. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
Justin Pearson speaks to supporters after being reinstated to the the Tennessee House of Representatives by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to reinstate Pearson as a state representative. ( Chris Day/The Commercial Appeal via AP)
Justin Pearson, who was ousted as a Tennessee state representative by Republican lawmakers last week, marches to the Shelby County Board of Commission in Memphis on Wednesday with his fiancee, Oceana Gilliam, where county officials voted to reinstate him. (The New York Times/Jon Cherry)Gallery: Ex-lawmaker reappointed in Tennessee
