Rep. Justin Pearson Reinstated To Tennessee House After GOP Expulsion
Written by djfrosty on April 14, 2023
Rep. Justin Pearson and his colleague Rep. Justin Jones were famously ousted from the Tennessee House by the GOP supermajority due to their involvement in a gun violence protest. After Rep. Jones was formerly reinstated, Rep. Justin Pearson regained his House position on Thursday (April 13).
By now, the story of Rep. Justin Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones being shown the door for what some observers viewed as politically and even racially driven motivations have spread far and wide. Both men have ties to the respective communities they represent in the state and ran for office on the heels of their activism work.
Pearson, 28, has also emerged as a stirring orator, using a speaking style that some have compared to late civil rights activist and Black History icon in Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In a statement republished by local news outlet WREG, Pearson expressed gratitude for returning to the House to do the work and represent the will of the people.
From Pearson’s statement:
I’m so humbled and grateful to once again represent District 86. Thank you to those who rallied, marched, wrote letters, posted on social media and prayed for this moment. I thank the members of the Shelby County Commission for their courage to do what is right, to protect the representation that voters in District 86 went to the polls twice to earn.
An ugly byproduct of the brouhaha in Tennessee is the comments of conservative pundits and detractors who failed to call out the fact that Pearson and Jones were unlikely targeted under illegal circumstances.
Instead, talking heads like Tucker Carlson is currently under fire for saying that Pearson is using the voice of a “sharecropper” which prompted some chatter.
As it stands, the reinstatement of Rep. Justin Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones is, as many in the state and abroad have said, a win for democracy.
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Photo: Getty