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Reappointed Justin Pearson Vows to Fight on Against Tennessee GOP That Expelled Him
"The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel justice. You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight," the representative declared. "Let's get back to work."
Apr 12, 2023
This is a developing story… Please check back for possible updates...
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to reappoint Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson to represent District 86 in the Tennessee House of Representatives nearly a week after Republican lawmakers expelled him and Rep. Justin Jones over a protest demanding stricter gun laws.
Pearson's reinstatement—following a prayer by his father, a pastor—came after the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously Monday night to reappoint Jones (D-52). While the GOP-controlled House expelled both young Black lawmakers, the resolution to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-13), who is white and also joined the protest, narrowly failed.
"Nashville thought they could silence democracy. But they didn't know the Shelby County Commission was filled with some courageous leaders," Pearson said in a speech after his reappointment, highlighting that the board's 7-0 vote came in spite of alleged threats to reduce state resources to the region. Six of the 13 board members were not present for the meeting, including the four Republicans.
\u201cJust a colossal miscalculation from Tennessee Republicans. \n\nThe only thing they accomplished by expelling two members was 1) grow the members\u2019 warchests and audiences and 2) draw intense scrutiny on the @TNGOP\u2019s recent history of racism and corruption.\u201d— Kyle Tharp (@Kyle Tharp) 1681325543
Wednesday's vote shows that "we do not speak alone, we speak together; we fight together," Pearson declared.
"And so the message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel justice. You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight," he added. "We look forward to continuing to fight, continuing to advocate, until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Let's get back to work."
\u201cOn the road back to Nashville from Memphis.\n\nThe people of District 52 and 86 have representation again, but make no mistake\u2014democracy is still in crisis in Tennessee.\n\nWelcome home, brother. The Tennessee Three will be back in the PEOPLE\u2019S HOUSE! @Justinjpearson @VoteGloriaJ \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffe\u201d— Rep. Justin Jones (@Rep. Justin Jones) 1681341283
Jones tweeted Wednesday that "the people of District 52 and 86 have representation again, but make no mistake—democracy is still in crisis in Tennessee."
Ahead of the vote to send him back to Nashville, Pearson—joined by Johnson and Jones—addressed a crowd at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, before marching to the Shelby County Commission meeting.
\u201cWe are marching to the Shelby County Comission with the people. People Power is greater than any power that attempts to suppress it!\u201d— Justin J. Pearson (@Justin J. Pearson) 1681323173
Pearson also wrote Wednesday in a New York Times opinion piece that "it's not just our individual voices that were sanctioned and silenced last Thursday. It was the voices of the nearly 135,000 Tennesseans we represented—many desperate for protection from the absence of many commonsense gun safety laws in our state."
Pearson noted that "since the Covenant School shooting, the Republican supermajority in the state House has done little but advance a bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in school and propose a $140 million budget increase to pay for the presence of armed guards in public schools, further militarizing them without adequate evidence that this makes schools safer."
"Besides expanding already expansive gun rights, Republican-led statehouses across the country are proposing and passing staggering numbers of bills that serve a fringe, white evangelical agenda that abrogates the rights and freedoms of the rest of us," he added, pointing to GOP attacks on trans children, the social safety net, abortion access, and voting rights.
\u201c"We have a nation in pain and peril," writes @Justinjpearson.\n\n"We and the young protesters are the future of a new Tennessee. Those who seek to silence us will not have the final say." https://t.co/oxOzkUrkAe\u201d— Institute for Policy Studies (@Institute for Policy Studies) 1681308963
"I was elected early this year by the people of Memphis and Millington to stand up for all of us against encroachments on our freedoms. I will continue to fight with and for our people, whether in or out of office," Pearson vowed. "We and the young protesters are the future of a new Tennessee. Those who seek to silence us will not have the final say."
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) along with Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Wednesday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the expulsions violated any constitutional rights of Jones, Pearson, or the Tennessee citizens they represent.
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Expelled Tennessee Democrat Says GOP Is Threatening to Cut Local Funding If He's Reinstated
"This is what folks really have to realize," said former state Rep. Justin Pearson. "The power structure in the state of Tennessee is always wielding against the minority party and people."
Apr 10, 2023
One of the Tennessee Democrats who was removed last week by the Republican-dominated state House said Sunday that GOP lawmakers have threatened county officials with funding cuts in an effort to deter them from voting to reinstate the expelled representative.
"I would be honored to accept the appointment of the Shelby County Commission," former state Rep. Justin Pearson said of the local body that is set to meet on Wednesday to decide who will fill the empty seat until a special election is held. Pearson told NBC News on Sunday that he intends to run in the special election triggered by his widely condemned expulsion, which stemmed from his participation in a gun control protest on the state House floor following a school shooting in Nashville.
The Memphis Democrat said he has "heard that people in the state legislature and in Nashville are actually threatening our Shelby County commissioners to not reappoint me, or they're going to take away funding that's in the government's budget for projects that the mayor and others have asked for."
"This is what folks really have to realize," said Pearson. "The power structure in the state of Tennessee is always wielding against the minority party and people."
Late last week, Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon told local reporters that members of the body are "being threatened by the state to take away funding, needed funding to run our schools, to run our municipalities."
"This is about bullying people into submission. And enough is enough," said Sugarmon. "We've got to stand for something or fall for everything. And we've been bullied by the state for too long now."
It's unclear whether Pearson has enough support among the 13 Shelby County commissioners to win reinstatement ahead of the coming special election.
Mickell Lowery, the chair of the commission, said in a statement Sunday that "the protests at the state Capitol by citizens recently impacted by the senseless deaths of three nine-year-old children and three adults entrusted with their care at their school was understandable given the fact that the gun laws in the state of Tennessee are becoming nearly nonexistent."
"It is equally understandable that the leadership of the state House of Representatives felt a strong message had to be sent to those who transgressed the rules," said Lowery. "However, I believe the expulsion of State Representative Justin Pearson was conducted in a hasty manner without consideration of other corrective action methods. I also believe that the ramifications for our great state are still yet to be seen."
"Coincidentally, this has directly affected me as I too reside in State House District 86," he continued. "I am amongst the over 68,000 citizens who were stripped of having a representative at the state due to the unfortunate outcome of the State Assembly's vote. Therefore, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners will consider the action to reappoint Mr. Justin Pearson to his duly elected position to represent the citizens in District 86 for the State of Tennessee House of Representatives in a special called meeting on Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 1:30 PM."
Rep. Justin Jones, a Nashville Democrat who was expelled along with Pearson for showing solidarity with demonstrators on the state House floor, reportedly has the support of a majority of the Nashville Metropolitan Council members expected to convene Monday to vote on the removed lawmaker's reinstatement.
Jones warned last week that Tennessee House Republicans could refuse to seat him and Pearson if they are reappointed or if they win a special election.
In his NBC appearance on Sunday, Jones said the resounding national response to his and Pearson's expulsion makes clear that the Tennessee GOP's "attack on democracy will not go on unchallenged."
"The Tennessee House Republicans' attempt to crucify democracy has instead resurrected a movement led by young people to restore our democracy, to build a multiracial coalition," Jones said. "We will continue to fight for our constituents."
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'Just the Next Step' Toward Justice for Tyre Nichols: Memphis Police Shutter SCORPION Unit
Attorneys for Nichols' family called the move "appropriate and proportional" in response to his death and urged other cities to follow suit but also stressed that "misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units."
Jan 29, 2023
The family of Tyre Nichols and others appalled by his death—for which five fired Memphis cops now face murder charges—welcomed the police department's decision on Saturday to disband a unit created in 2021 to patrol high-crime areas.
The move came a day after the Tennessee city put out videos of the former Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers—Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith—brutally beating Nichols following a traffic stop on January 7. The 29-year-old Black man was hospitalized and died three days later from cardiac arrest and kidney failure.
The MPD's Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods (SCORPION) Unit hasn't been active since Nichols' January 10 death, according to the mayor. The five ex-officers, who are all Black, were part of the unit and on assignment with it when they pulled over Nichols, police spokesperson Maj. Karen Rudolph confirmed to multiple news outlets on Saturday.
In public comments leading up to the footage being released Friday night—which sparked nationwide peaceful protests—Nichols' family along with Memphis residents and people across the United States called for the unit to be shut down.
The MPD said in a statement that members of the unit met with Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis on Saturday "to discuss the path forward for the department and the community in the aftermath of the tragic death of Tyre Nichols."
"In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders, and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit," the statement continued. "The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step."
\u201cBig. \n\nMemphis Police have shut down the so-called SCORPION Unit. The officers that beat Tyre Nichols to death were all part of that unit. \n\nSeveral Memphis City Council members have called for it to be disbanded permanently.\u201d— Gabriel Elizondo (@Gabriel Elizondo) 1674942545
In response, attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement that "the Nichols family and their legal team find the decision to permanently disband this unit to be both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis."
"We hope that other cities take similar action with their saturation police units in the near future to begin to create greater trust in their communities," the pair added. "We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further."
Memphis City Council Member J.B. Smiley Jr. told the Commercial Appeal that shutting down the unit was "essential for the family" of Nichols, but "my ultimate concern is just, it may just be surface level," because "the police department has the ability to create other units and just call it something else."
Fellow Memphis City Council Member Patrice Robinson told CNN's Jim Acosta that "the community has a lot more questions and a lot more demands."
"We have gotten emails from many citizens in our community, they're all concerned and they're expressing exactly what they see and what they want to see in our police department," she said. "We really need to investigate and find out what's going on."
Rolling Stone reported on institutional changes that some locals want, according to Memphis organizer Amber Sherman:
They're calling for widespread reforms in the Memphis police: dissolving similar task forces in the city, ending the use of unmarked cars and plainclothes officers, and banning traffic stops without probable cause. All three help escalate police violence, Sherman tells Rolling Stone. "We can't just get rid of one of them. We have to do all three."
The SCORPION Unit was only 14 months old when it was disbanded. Founded in late 2021 during a rise in the city's murder rate, it was touted by local officials for its high number of arrests and a decline in violent crime, but locals say the unit quickly developed a reputation for its policing tactics. "Here in Memphis we call them the Jump-out Boys," Sherman says. "They're in unmarked cars, and they jump out of them and assault people."
Activists in Memphis emphasized that this type of policing is not a new phenomenon. "It's not just the SCORPION Unit. We've had these task forces for years," Sherman continues. "I'm born and raised here, in my 20s, and this has always been a practice."
National leaders also responded to the development on Saturday by warning that much more must still be done at all levels.
"This is what immediate action looks like in the face of crisis and traumatic events on behalf of a community," NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson declared of the department disbanding the unit, while also wondering why local leaders can "move to address the needs of the people faster than elected officials throughout the halls of Congress."
Meanwhile, Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson tweeted: "This is good. And not enough. And we've seen this happen before only for these units to pop back up when the world isn't watching."
\u201cAs news spreads the Memphis PD will disband the murderous \u201cScorpion\u201d Unit, it is important to know that back in 2020 NYC disbanded its own \u201canti-crime\u201d unit responsible for shootings, brutality, & Eric Garner\u2019s murder. \n\nNYC Mayor Eric Adams revived & expanded the unit last year.\u201d— Scott Hechinger (@Scott Hechinger) 1674949043
"I must reiterate that this is not the win they want you to think it is. Cops have and will continue to be brutal despite not being in a cool 'special taskforce,'"
coder, organizer, and YouTuber Sean Wiggs warned.
Legal reform advocate Dyjuan Tatro similarly argued that "the problem with this statement is that the SCORPION Unit should have never existed. It's well documented that police special units are violent, reckless, and racist. Furthermore, the rest of the officers of this violent unit are still on the police force, armed and ready to kill."
Strategist and writer Jodi Jacobson
took issue with another element of the department's statement, telling the MPD: "It was NOT a 'tragic death.' It was murder at the hands of our department. What you say matters, and you clearly are not taking responsibility."
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