海角大神

One of two Black Democrats expelled from the Republican-led Tennessee House will return to the Legislature after a Memphis commission voted to reinstate him Wednesday, nearly a week after his banishment for supporting gun control protesters propelled him into the national spotlight.

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 7-0 to reinstate Justin Pearson as a state representative.

鈥淚 will continue to fight with and for our people, whether in or out of office. We and the young protesters are the future of a new Tennessee. Those who seek to silence us will not have the final say,鈥� Mr. Pearson wrote in an op-ed published in The New York Times.

Republicans expelled Mr. Pearson and Rep. Justin Jones last week over their role in a gun control protest on the House floor after a Nashville school shooting that left three children and three adults dead.

The Nashville Metropolitan Council took only a few minutes Monday to unanimously restore Mr. Jones to office. He was quickly reinstated to his House seat.

The appointments are interim and special elections for the seats will take place in the coming months. Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson have said they plan to run in the special elections.

The House鈥檚 vote to remove Mr. Pearson and Mr. Jones but keep white Rep. Gloria Johnson drew accusations of racism. Ms. Johnson survived by one vote. Republican leadership denied that race was a factor, however.

The expulsions last Thursday made Tennessee a new front in the battle for the future of American democracy. In the span of a few days, the two had raised thousands of campaign dollars, and the Tennessee Democratic Party had received a new jolt of support from across the United States.

Political tensions rose when Mr. Pearson, Ms. Johnson, and Mr. Jones on the House floor joined with hundreds of demonstrators who packed the Capitol last month to call for the passage of gun control measures.

As protesters filled galleries, the lawmakers approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn and participated in a chant. The scene unfolded days after the shooting at the Covenant School, a private 海角大神 school. Their participation from the front of the chamber broke House rules because the three did not have permission from the House speaker.

Support for Mr. Pearson has come from across the country, including Memphis. During a Monday rally in support of Tyre Nichols, who died in January after he was beaten by police during an arrest, backers of Mr. Pearson said the commission was 鈥渙n the clock.鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got one job 鈥� to reinstate Justin Pearson,鈥� activist LJ Abraham said.

Ahead of Wednesday鈥檚 vote, Mr. Pearson led hundreds of people in a march from the National Civil Rights Museum to the county commission鈥檚 office in downtown Memphis.

Mr. Pearson grew up in the same House district he was chosen to represent after longtime state Rep. Barbara Cooper, a Black Democrat, died in office. It winds along the neighborhoods, forests, and wetlands of south Memphis, through the city鈥檚 downtown area and into north Shelby County.

Before he was elected, Mr. Pearson helped lead a successful campaign against a planned oil pipeline that would have run through neighborhoods and wetlands and near wells that pump water from the Memphis Sand Aquifer, which provides drinking water to 1 million people.

He gained a quick reputation as a skilled community activist and gifted public speaker.

Should Mr. Pearson join Mr. Jones in returning to the Tennessee Capitol, they鈥檒l do so when political divisions between the state鈥檚 few Democratic strongholds and the Republican supermajority were already reaching boiling point before the expulsions.

GOP members this year introduced a wave of punishing proposals to strip away Nashville鈥檚 autonomy. Others have pushed to abolish the state鈥檚 few community oversight boards that investigate police misconduct and instead replace them with advisory panels that would be blocked from investigating complaints.

Lawmakers are also nearing passage of a bill that would move control of the board that oversees Nashville鈥檚 airport from local appointments to selections by Republican state government leaders.

Particularly on addressing gun violence, Republicans have so far refused to consider placing any new restrictions on firearms in the wake of the Nashville school shooting. Instead, lawmakers have advanced legislation designed to add more armed guards in public and private schools and are considering a proposal that would allow teachers to carry guns.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Cameron Sexton鈥檚 office confirmed this week that a Republican lawmaker was stripped of a top committee assignment more than a month after he asked during a hearing if 鈥渉anging by a tree鈥� could be added to the state鈥檚 execution methods. The speaker鈥檚 office declined to specify the reason for removing him from the committee.

Rep. Paul Sherrell was taken off the Criminal Justice Committee and transferred to another, and was 鈥渧ery agreeable鈥� to the change, Mr. Sexton鈥檚 spokesperson Doug Kufner said.

Mr. Sherrell, who is white, later apologized for what he said amid outcry from Black lawmakers, who pointed to the state鈥檚 dark history of lynching. Mr. Sherrell said his comments were 鈥渆xaggerated鈥� to show 鈥渟upport of families who often wait decades for justice.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.