Expelled Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones vows to return – but can he?

Expelled Tennessee lawmaker Justin Jones says he will seek re-election for his Nashville seat, calling his removal an attack on democracy.

Republicans voted to expel Mr Jones and his fellow Democratic colleague Justin Pearson for leading a gun control protest on 30 March.

The extraordinary move to expel the lawmakers came one week after a shooting at a Nashville school.

Six people, including three young children, were killed.

“It’s very scary that this Republican supermajority has silenced us, has silenced our voters, for standing up,” Mr Jones told BBC News.

“We were calling for action so we can stop our young people and stop our children from being murdered and massacred.”

Mr Jones and Mr Pearson’s absence from the House may be short-lived.

Special elections will be held to fill the seats of both expelled members, meaning Mr Jones and Mr Pearson will be able to run again and potentially return to their seats.

Until then, local councils can appoint temporary representatives to hold the position until a special election is held.

Most members of Nashville’s Metro Council – the body responsible for appointing Mr Jones’ replacement – have pledged to nominate Mr Jones as his former district’s temporary representative. The council has called a vote for Monday afternoon.

Demonstrators have flooded the Tennessee capitol demanding gun reform in the days since a shooter opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville on 27 March, killing six people – including three children.

Last week, Mr Jones, 27, and Mr Pearson, 28, along with fellow Democrat Gloria Johnson, 60, walked to the front of the chamber in solidarity with protestors gathered in the House gallery. Ms Johnson stood alongside Mr Jones and Mr Pearson as they led chants from the lectern on the House floor through a bullhorn.

The actions enraged House Republicans, who soon brought a resolution on expulsion, saying the trio had brought “disorder and dishonour to the House”. On Thursday, some Republican members said the Democrats’ actions amounted to an insurrection, with House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, comparing the incident to the deadly assault on the US Capitol Building in Washington DC on 6 January 2020.

“What they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse depending on how you look at it, to doing an insurrection in the Capitol,” he said.

Ms Johnson was the only one of the trio to survive her expulsion vote, keeping her seat by just one ballot. Asked why she alone was not removed from her seat, Ms Johnson, who is white, told reporters “it might have to do with the colour of our skin”. Mr Jones and Mr Pearson are both black.

The so-called Tennessee Three have brought nationwide attention to the state. On Thursday, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called the expulsion vote “shocking” and “undemocratic”.

Vice-President Kamala Harris will visit Nashville later to call for gun control legislation and meet with both Mr Jones and Mr Pearson, her office confirmed.