Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton will seat the two black Democratic lawmakers who were forced out last week over their protests following a mass school shooting if the county commissions vote them back in, a spokesperson for Sexton said Monday.
“The two governing bodies will make the decision as to who they want to appoint to these seats,” the spokesperson told WKRN. “Those two individuals will be seated as representatives as the constitution requires.”
NASHVILLE METRO COUNCIL TO VOTE ON REINSTATING OUSTED TENNESSEE LAWMAKER
The decision comes five days after state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled from the state legislature in a move that drew widespread condemnation, outrage, and accusations of racism across the country. Protests that began after their ousting are expected to continue Monday at the Tennessee Capitol.
Jones and Pearson were forced out of the legislature in a two-thirds majority vote cast by their Republican colleagues. State Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white Democrat who also participated in the demonstration, survived her vote.
Jones claimed his removal was the result of a “white supremacist system” during an interview on MSNBC.
“We’re in the midst of a third Reconstruction here in Tennessee that hopefully will have national implications,” Jones told Al Sharpton on Sunday. “But what it means is that this white supremacist system being led by Speaker Cameron Sexton is an attempt to divide and conquer us. But in reality, you see, we, the Tennessee Three, we continue to stand together.”
Members of the Nashville Metro Council are expected to reappoint Jones at a special meeting Monday night. If he is appointed by a simple majority, he would hold the interim position until a special election is held and would have to run for reelection. At least 29 members of Nashville’s 40-seat council have said they plan to reappoint Jones.
Pearson could be reappointed at a Wednesday meeting of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.
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Over the weekend, he called the statehouse a “toxic work environment,” claiming he got harassed for wearing a black dashiki during a House session and not a suit and tie. A dashiki is a tunic-like garment from West Africa.
“It’s about us not belonging in the institution because they are afraid of the changes that are happening in our society and the voices that are being elevated,” Pearson said on Meet the Press.
