Justin Jones sworn back into Tennessee House days after GOP expulsion

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) has retaken his oath of office and been reinstated to the state House days after being expelled for joining a state capitol protest against gun violence.

On Monday afternoon, the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted to reinstate Jones, after the GOP-controlled House voted to expel him and his colleague Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis). 

As Jones was sworn in on the steps of the state capitol, a crowd of supporters gathered around him and cheered. 

Jones, who was the only nominee for the district’s open seat, received unanimous support from the council, with all 36 members voting to reappoint him as an interim representative for the 52nd District. As the clerk read the 36 yeas, the council burst into cheers and applause. 

Moments after he was reinstated, Jones joined protesters, many who showed up in support of him, and marched back to the Tennessee state capitol to take his oath.

Jones and Pearson, who are both Black, were expelled last week for participating in a demonstration calling for gun reform on the House floor after a mass shooting at the private Covenant School in Nashville left three 9-year-old children and three faculty members dead. 

Their colleague, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), also participated in the demonstration but managed to maintain her seat. Johnson is white.

Republicans said the three lawmakers “knowingly and intentionally” brought “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

Democrats across the nation voiced their support for the lawmakers, who have since become known as the Tennessee Three. Vice President Harris traveled to Tennessee last week in support of the trio, while several other leaders pointed to the racial undertones of Jones’s and Pearson’s expulsion.

Jones himself said his race played a key role in his removal from the state House.

“I basically had a member call me an uppity Negro,” Jones told MSNBC’s Joy Reid after the 72-25 vote that expelled him.

Ahead of the vote to expel him, Jones vowed to return to the state capitol. 

“To those who here will cast a vote for expulsion, I was fighting for your children, too, to live free from the terror of school shootings,” he said. “If I’m expelled from here, I’ll be back out there with the people every week demanding that you act. If you expel me, I will continue to show up because this issue is too important.”

Pearson’s seat, representing District 86, will be addressed at a special meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis on Wednesday, according to Commission Chairman Mickell Lowery.

Both Jones and Pearson, if elected, will serve on an interim basis until a special election can be held in the coming months. Both have indicated they plan to run in the special election.

—Updated at 6:55 p.m.