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The Nashville Metropolitan Council on Monday voted to return Justin Jones to the state Legislature after he was removed last week by Republicans for protesting gun violence on the House floor.
The 36 council members present at Monday’s meeting unanimously supported reinstating Jones as a state legislator. The council had suspended its own rules to allow an immediate vote on Jones’ seat instead of holding a monthlong nomination period.
Less than an hour later, Jones was sworn in on the steps of the state Capitol.
“Today we send a resounding message that democracy will not be killed in the cover of silence,” Jones said, speaking in front of the Tennessee State Capitol after the vote. “This is not about one person, it’s not about one position, it’s about a movement.”
Jones and fellow Democrat Justin J. Pearson, who are both Black, were expelled on Thursday in House votes that drew national attention to racial dynamics in the state’s top legislative body.
Jones, Pearson and state Rep. Gloria Johnson had led supporters in chants calling for gun control measures after a shooting at a Nashville school killed six people, including three 9-year-old children. The three broke House rules and used a bullhorn when they were not recognized to speak.
Tennessee House leaders cast the protest as an « insurrection » and voted last Thursday to expel Jones and Pearson from the Legislature. Johnson, who is white, survived her vote, which she suggested had to do with her race. After Monday’s council vote, Johnson and Jones embraced and locked arms.
Hundreds of demonstrators who had assembled outside the Metro Nashville Courthouse marched to the Tennessee State Capitol on Monday.
