The Nashville Metro Council on Monday unanimously voted to reinstate Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones to his seat after the Republican-led legislature expelled him for taking part in a gun reform protest on the House floor.
All 36 council members at Monday's meeting unanimously voted to reinstate Jones, one of the so-called "Tennessee Three," after suspending its rules to allow for an immediate vote rather than go through a monthlong nomination period, according to NBC News.
Jones, who will now serve in an interim capacity until the next election, was sworn in on the steps of the State Capitol about an hour later as supporters chanted "welcome home."
"I want to welcome democracy back to the people's house," Jones said in a speech on the House floor. "I want to thank you all, not for what you did, but for awakening the people of this state, particularly the young people. Thank you for reminding us that the struggle for justice is fought and won in every generation."
Jones and state Reps. Justin Person and Gloria Johnson led supporters in chants for gun reform after a shooting at a Nashville school killed six people, including three children. The trio used a bullhorn when they were not recognized to speak in violation of House rules.
Republicans framed the protest as an "insurrection," likening it to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and filed to expel all three lawmakers from the House for violating rules of "decorum." The House ultimately voted to expel Jones and Pearson, who are both Black, but not Johnson, who is white.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners will meet Wednesday to consider whether to reappoint Pearson to his seat.
"I believe the expulsion of State Representative Justin Pearson was conducted in a hasty manner without consideration of other corrective action methods," Chairman Mickell Lowery said in a statement to NBC. "I also believe that the ramifications for our great state are still yet to be seen."
The votes come amid reported threats of retaliation from state leaders if the pair is reinstated.
Pearson told NBC News on Sunday that he has "heard that people in the state legislature and in Nashville are actually threatening our Shelby County commissioners to not reappoint me, or they're going to take away funding that's in the government's budget for projects that the mayor and others have asked for."
"This is what folks really have to realize," he added. "The power structure in the state of Tennessee is always wielding against the minority party and people."
Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon also told reporters last week that members of the board are "being threatened by the state to take away funding, needed funding to run our schools, to run our municipalities."
"This is about bullying people into submission. And enough is enough," she said. "We've got to stand for something or fall for everything. And we've been bullied by the state for too long now."
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Attorneys for Pearson and Jones, which now include former Attorney General Eric Holder, sent a letter to Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton warning against further retaliation against the pair.
The letter said the lawmakers were expelled "not for any criminal or unethical act, but for merely exercising their constitutional rights" and in the process "disenfranchised the voters they were elected to represent."
"Their partisan expulsion was extraordinary, illegal, and without any historical or legal precedent," the letter said. "The House must not now compound its errors by further retributive actions."
The attorneys warned that any "partisan retributive action, such as the discriminatory treatment of elected officials, or threats or actions to withhold funding for government programs, would constitute further unconstitutional action that would require redress."
Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth and Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison said in a statement on Monday that "should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them. Like everyone else, they are expected to follow the rules of the House as well as state law."
Jones in a speech after his reinstatement called the vote a "resounding message that democracy will not be killed in the comfort of silence."
"This is not about one person. It's not about one position. It's about a movement," he said.
"You might try and silence it," Pearson added. "You might try and expel it, but the people's power will not be stopped."
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