Commissioners in Memphis are scheduled to decide whether to return Justin Pearson, a Black Democrat, to the Republican-led Tennessee House after he and a Black colleague were kicked out after their support of gun control protesters.
Republicans banished Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones last week over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville that left three children and three adults dead.Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
The House’s vote to remove Pearson and Jones but keep white Rep. Gloria Johnson drew accusations of racism. Johnson survived by one vote. Republican leadership denied that race was a factor, however. The expulsions last Thursday made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy and propelled the ousted lawmakers into the national spotlight. In the span of a few days, the two 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 joined with hundreds of demonstrators who packed the Capitol last month to call for passage of gun control measures.
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Expelled Justin Pearson could be returned to Tennessee HouseCommissioners in Memphis are scheduled to decide whether to return a Black Democrat to the Republican-led Tennessee House. Justin Pearson and a colleague were kicked out of the Legislature last Thursday following their support of gun control protesters. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners set a vote Wednesday. The vote will determine whether Pearson is sent back to the Legislature in Nashville. Republicans banished Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor after the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. Jones also is Black. He was reinstated to his House seat Monday.
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