A week after expulsion, Justin Pearson of Memphis returns to Tennessee House

Rep. Justin Pearson is again a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives after the Memphis Democrat took the oath of office on Thursday, just steps away from the state Capitol building he was expelled from last week in an historic, controversial process that has roiled political waters and elevated the freshman lawmaker to a national platform.

Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, were expelled by Tennessee Republicans last week for interrupting House business amid gun reform protests at the Capitol on March 30, just days after the deadly Covenant school shooting rocked Nashville and the nation. Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, survived an expulsion effort by a single vote.

Pearson on Thursday read off the names of the Covenant shooting victims before criticizing the Republican supermajority for taking up expulsion proceedings amid historic public protests at the Capitol calling for gun reform.

"Gun violence is impacting and hurting every part of our community, and all people within our community, and the solutions offered are not good enough," Pearson said. "They are not the ones that can keep us safe and protect us. Unfortunately, the solution offered by the Republican Party in the state of Tennessee was to try and expel us, try and expel our voices and silence our fight for an end to gun violence. They worked to expel our constituents' representation by subverting our democracy for their mobocracy."

The expulsion of the two youngest Black lawmakers drew immediate demonstrations in Nashville and widespread condemnation across the county. While Republicans argued the trio's unprecedented action to lead the public House galleries in gun reform chants required unprecedented consequences, opponents argued expulsion was an extreme step to take that stripped over 150,000 Tennesseans of their elected representation.

In the end, the pair swiftly returned to Nashville as newly bolstered rising stars with energized political bases.

Though the state constitution gives the General Assembly authority to steward its own membership and mete out punishment as the body sees fit, county legislative bodies have the authority to tap interim appointments to fill empty seats. The Nashville Metro Council and the Shelby County Commission did just that and returned the two lawmakers to the House.

Pearson missed a single day of floor votes following his expulsion, while Rep. Justin Jones was able to return to the General Assembly in time for a Monday floor session.

More: Justin Pearson reappointed to Tennessee House of Representatives by Shelby County Commission

Rep. Torrey Harris, D-Memphis, on Wednesday evening delivered documentation of Pearson's reappointments and the Shelby County Commission meeting minutes to the General Assembly, which is required to certify the interim appointment. Harris posted a video, set to the Rocky theme, of him clutching the documents and sprinting up the steps outside of the Capitol, a moment of levity in a week of political turmoil.

Harris said he wanted to help his colleagues in any way he could.

"I feel like our democracy is about to start working again, to the point where the people are going to get heard," Harris said, expressing optimism outside of Pearson's swearing in. "What they did triggered a whole national movement where people are paying attention to what's going on in Tennessee. It puts our leadership on notice that they have to treat people right, they have to listen to everyone, they have to follow by what the people want and not just what their rules are."

More than 100 supporters gathered outside the Capitol to cheer on Pearson Thursday morning.  Pearson’s parents both took the podium before their son, with his mother reciting Maya Angelou’s poem "Still I Rise."

Ahead of his oath, Pearson asked Memphis constituents who had traveled to Nashville to gather in front of the podium.

“This is a people-powered movement, not a politician’s movement,” Pearson said.

Pearson first came to office following the death of Rep. Barbara Cooper, D-Memphis.

Since March 14, Pearson has won a general election, officially swore in as an elected member of the House of Representatives, where he'd been serving an interim appointment after winning the January primary, was expelled and received a second interim appointment before swearing in, again, on Thursday.

He and Jones will have to face a special election later this year.

Inside the Capitol, Phillip Shade, a former Metro teacher and Vietnam War veteran, said he had to come to the statehouse to meet Pearson. Shade opposes plans to put additional armed guards in schools, which he warned would turn schools into "armed encampments." Outside the House chamber, Shade ran into Pearson and shook his hand.

"I'm so proud of you, it brings a tear to my eye," Shade said.

Both lawmakers were back at their desks on Thursday morning amid an ongoing House session, which later ground to a temporary halt after Democrats objected to Republicans voting to cut debate on a controversial college instruction bill.

Jones and Pearson rose in opposition of a bill carried by Republicans that would amend a "divisive concepts" law passed last year. The law would add a mechanism to allow people to report "alleged violations" that occur at higher education institutions.

Jones called the law bigoted, and his mic was eventually turned off by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville.

Republicans used a procedural vote to cut off debate, which Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, sharply criticized. Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, suggested lawmakers had discussed allowing longer debates amid the political turmoil of the last two weeks, though Sexton pointed to House rules that allow members to call for a debate closure vote.

"I would urge caution among this body about walking any further off this cliff on issues of such importance," Clemmons said.

The bill ultimately passed on a party-line vote.

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee three: A week after expulsion, Justin Pearson of returns to House