The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted to reinstate recently expelled Representative Justin Jones to the state's legislature.
Jones was sworn in on the steps of the state Capitol building on Monday, less than a week after he was removed from the Tennessee General Assembly by the legislature's Republican majority.
- After being sworn in, Jones said in a speech on the House floor: "I want to welcome democracy back to the people's house."
- GOP legislators voted to remove Jones and fellow Democrat Justin Pearson from the chamber last week after they participated in a protest against gun violence in the Capitol building.
- Jones, Pearson, and Rep. Gloria Johnson led a protest after a March 27 mass shooting at a Nashville school that left six people dead.
- Jones and Pearson were accused of breaking House rules because they used a bullhorn when they were not recognized to speak.
- The GOP majority subsequently voted to remove Jones and Pearson, who are both African-American, from the General Assembly.
- Johnson, who survived the expulsion vote, suggested that Jones and Pearson were expelled because they are Black.
- After the Council vote, Pearson joined protestors in a march to the State Capitol.
- He said: "You might try and expel it, but the people’s power will not be stopped."
- The Shelby County Board of Commissioners will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to re-appoint Pearson to his seat.
