Nashville’s Metropolitan Council unanimously voted yesterday to reinstate expelled representative Justin Jones to his seat in the Tennesse legislature. Representative Justin Pearson, who was expelled from the legislature along with Jones, stood by his side as he was sworn in, according to “The Rachel Maddow Show.”
Amid cheers and songs from a multiracial, multigenerational, and multireligious crowd, Jones entered the law-making body who threw him and Pearson out because they and fellow Democrat Gloria Johnson brought the youth-led protest for gun control into the chamber. Johnson, who remained in the legislature by one vote, escorted Jones.
Jones raised a fist in the air as he entered the chamber.
“No expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us but will only galvanize and strengthen our movement. And we’ll continue to show up in the People’s House,” Jones said in his address to the rest of the legislature. “Power to the people!”
The protest resulted from a mass shooting at a Nashville school on March 27.
Jones’ reinstatement is temporary, however. Pearson, who has not been reinstated yet, and Jones will have to face a vote from the electorate to officially keep their seats.
