‘We’re Seeing History Now In Real Time’: Ousted Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Reinstated, Sworn Back In

‘We’re Seeing History Now In Real Time’: Ousted Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Reinstated, Sworn Back In

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Justin Jones, a state representative expelled by the Tennessee legislature last week, has been reinstated and sworn in.

Since their expulsion for protesting gun violence, Jones and Justin Pearson, who are Black, have been vocal dissenters of the Republican-controlled legislature. A White representative, Gloria Johnson, was not expelled for participating in the same protest.

The Nashville Metro Council voted on Monday night to reinstate Jones to his former seat.

“We’re seeing history now in real-time,” said Mark Thompson, civil rights activist as Jones signed an official document welcoming him back to the Tennessee House. “It’s jubilant—an incredible feeling right here,” Thompson said.

“It truly is a multiracial coalition, Mark. There are people of every age, every ethnic group this is truly a multiracial democracy in action,” said MSNBC guest host Melissa Murray as Jones made his way into the Tennessee Statehouse.

“It certainly is and that’s because gun violence touches everyone, and what the Republicans didn’t expect was this type of reaction, this type of backlash. You could not get a flight into Nashville today,” Thompson said. “The masses were coming here. As a result, I think the Republicans came to their senses, they couldn’t block them out. They just couldn’t do it because people were going to converge on Nashville. We were on the verge of literally another Million Man March in Nashville so this is big and as Representative [Harold] Love said to us earlier, they appeal to the speaker’s sensibilities and saying to him, ‘You don’t want this smoke. This is bigger than you can imagine.’”

Republicans in the Tennessee House have denied the decision to expel Jones and Pearson was race-based.

Last week Bryan Richey appeared on CNN, telling Jake Tapper it was “nonsense” that the two Black men were expelled due to their race while the White woman wasn’t.

“That’s political nonsense,” Richey said. “If anything, it was two energetic, youthful males that were a little bit more animated while they were up there. And Ms. Gloria Johnson, Rep. Johnson, she stood there when–they played the video. It clearly showed her standing there not doing as much, and I think that swayed other members to not vote for her. And that’s why she’s still there, had nothing to do with the color of their skin. I respect all three of them and their constituents that voted for them. I felt that they should stay.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

The post ‘We’re Seeing History Now In Real Time’: Ousted Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Reinstated, Sworn Back In first appeared on Mediaite.