The reseating by the Nashville Metropolitan Council of Tennessee Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones revealed the political chasm between Republicans and Democrats and a widening rift over gun control in the United States.
Jones’ reseating came the same day that another mass shooting rocked the country – this time at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, which claimed the lives of six people.
Connor Sturgeon, a disgruntled employee at the Old National Bank in Louisville, purchased an AR-15-style weapon at a local gun store just a week before his deadly rampage that left him and five others dead.
Sturgeon, 25, who livestreamed his murderous attack, is seen on the video telling a woman who greeted him, “You need to get out of here.”
After his gun jammed, Sturgeon shot the woman in the back and continued his rampage.
Discriminating Against the Justins: Justin Jones and Justin Pearson
Jones and fellow Democrat Justin Pearson were expelled by the GOP supermajority after the two, along with white Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson, protested the lack of action on gun control and the mass shootings that seem to occur daily in the United States.
Johnson, who wasn’t expelled, said she survived only because she’s white while Jones and Pearson were kicked out because they’re Black.
But the larger gun control issue and the GOP’s merciless power grab even have some in the rank and file hesitating and offering caution.
“If my job, along with other members of the RNC, is to protect the brand of the Republican Party, this didn’t help,” Oscar Brock, a Republican National Committeeman from Tennessee, told the New York Times. “You’ve energized young voters against us. Worse than squandering support, you’ve made enemies where we didn’t need them.”
He continued: “Even in Tennessee, we have swing districts in the State House and Senate, and if you’ve angered tens of thousands of students and presumably their parents, you could theoretically expose yourself to a united front.”
Black residents have rallied throughout Tennessee to call attention to the discriminatory politics occurring in the state.
Angelo Tate told television reporters that the GOP’s removal of Jones revealed what he believed was a hidden truth.
“He’s Black, he has our interests at heart, and he gets removed for protesting. That is racial,” Tate, 31, said. “It makes us feel like our choice and our voice is not valued and we seem to be moving backward politically.”
Rachel Tate, 30, told NBC News that “It’s messed up. All [Jones] wanted to do was represent us, and he got penalized for it.”
“White men don’t care what we think,” Tate added. They took our representative away from us. It’s like our vote doesn’t matter.”
In a unanimous vote and a rebuke of Tennessee Republicans, the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted to reappoint Jones to the state House of Representatives.
A spokesperson for GOP House Speaker Cameron Sexton said he’d go along with the council if they chose to send Jones back. He also indicated that he’d also welcome back Pearson if Memphis officials voted later this week to return him to the House.
The Shelby County commission expects to take up a motion to return Pearson this week.
Speaking Out on Gun Control in America
Jones and Pearson have vowed to continue calling on their Republican colleagues to act on gun control after the latest school shooting in Nashville that claimed the lives of three elementary school students and three adults.
The Louisville bank shooting has further underscored the need for legislative action.
Phyllis Qualls, who’s covering the proceedings for the African American-owned Tennessee Tribune, said the GOP leadership miscalculated in expelling Jones and Pearson.
“Republicans had no vision as to the aftermath of what they can do,” Qualls said. “Mom has always said, ‘What’s done in the dark will come out in the light.’ The Republicans took a major issue like gun control and reduced it to decorum. It’s almost like children in the car complaining that ‘Mom, he’s looking at me.’
Qualls continued: “The crimes don’t equate, and to do this during holy week, you crucified these men, and they are rising to a level that nobody expected. They have become leaders of the gun control issue, and it was the Republicans who caused that.”
