Majority of Nashville council members say they will vote to reinstate expelled legislator

A majority of members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council will vote to reinstate Justin Jones to the Tennessee state Legislature after he was expelled from the House of Representatives on Thursday over his protests on the chamber floor against gun violence.

Twenty-three members of the 40-seat Metropolitan Council confirmed to NBC News or on social media that they plan to vote to reinstate Jones to the Legislature.

The council, which currently has 39 members, will hold a special meeting Monday to discuss an interim replacement for Jones’ seat. Vice Mayor Jim Shulman said he expects the council will take action to suspend the rules at the meeting to vote on a successor to fill Jones’ seat instead of holding a monthlong nomination period.

In interviews with NBC News, members expressed outrage at Jones’ expulsion and said hundreds of constituents have reached out to demand that he be reinstated.

“They removed the voice from 140,000 people who voted for them,” said Councilmember Burkley Allen. “It’s a terrible precedent to set, that we disagree with you and you’ve disrupted our House proceedings and therefore we’re expelling you. That’s not the way democracy works.”

Jones and two other Democratic state lawmakers led a protest on the House floor last week to call for stricter gun safety measures after a mass shooting at a private elementary school in Nashville. Jones and Pearson used a bullhorn to lead chants and spoke without being recognized. Tennessee House leaders called the protest an “insurrection.” But Nashville Councilmember Brett Withers pushed back on the characterization, saying claims that the protest was an insurrection were “unfounded.”

Jones was expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives in a 72-25 party-line vote on Thursday, and the other ousted member, Justin Pearson, was booted in a vote of 69-26 later in the day. Rep. Gloria Johnson was also up for expulsion but clung to her seat. Johnson, who is white, said the disparity “might have to do with the color of my skin,” The Tennessean reported. Both Jones and Pearson are Black.

Under the Tennessee State Constitution, an interim successor can be appointed by the legislative body of the expelled member’s county until a special election is held. For Jones, that is Nashville. The Nashville council, which is the legislative body of the city and Davidson County’s consolidated government, is officially a nonpartisan body, but Councilmember Russ Bradford said most members are Democrats.

Pearson is from Memphis, and Shelby County Commission Chairman Mickell Lowery did not immediately respond to NBC’s request for comment on the process for Pearson’s potential replacement or reinstatement.

In an interview with MSNBC, Jones said Thursday “was a very grave day for democracy and a very dangerous precedent was set not just for Tennessee, but for the nation.”

“This is attacking democracy on so many different levels, and then to refuse to seat us after expelling us, I mean, this — this is saying that Tennessee is on the border or is already faced with authoritarianism,” Jones said.