Tennessee Representative Justin Pearson blasted the GOP leader and likened the latter to “Satan.”
A week after Pearson and others were expelled and got reinstated by their respective county commission councils, Pearson made striking remarks, slamming the Republican House leader.
On Thursday, Pearson blasted the Republican Party while he was sworn into office and reiterated his calls for new statewide restrictions on the Second Amendment.
In the statement, Pearson asserted that “unfortunately, the solution offered by the Republican Party in the state of Tennessee was to try and expel us, try and expel our voices, and silence our fight to end gun violence,” adding that “they worked to expel our constituents’ representation by subverting our democracy for their mobocracy, where their dollars and their egos rule. But our democracy is powered by people, and people power always wins.”
The Democrat also singled out House Speaker Cameron Sexton and compared the Republican to Satan.
“My mother says what the devil meant for bad, God meant for good. God needed to reignite this movement to end gun violence. God needed to catalyze the conversation about anti-democratic behavior of the Republican Party in the state of Tennessee. God needed to wake us up to the reality of this moment that we’ve got a new generation, new ideas, new beliefs to guide us into the future.” Pearson lamented.
TN Rep. Justin Pearson says he has ‘no regrets’ about participating in the protest against gun violence that originally got him expelled from the state legislature by House Republicans. Pearson was reinstated to the body on April 12 in a vote by Shelby County officials. pic.twitter.com/GNLAamVHWM— NowThis (@nowthisnews) April 14, 2023
Meanwhile, Republican Governor Bill Lee made a surprise announcement to his fellow Republicans, asking legislative leaders to create and pass new “order of protection” legislation that will prevent law enforcement from threatening people to purchase guns.
“It won’t solve all of our problems, but I think it takes a good step forward,” he said.
The report comes as the Tennessee legislature has been pushing back against any sort of gun restrictions.
“We have to be very careful,” state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson warned on Wednesday, arguing that “It’s a constitutional right whether you agree or disagree with it. The right to bear arms is a fundamental constitutional right, and I support that wholeheartedly.”
State Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari also called the governor’s comments “a pleasant surprise.”
“I know the governor and Republican leadership have said they want to do something, but to see him come out so strongly, especially on red flag laws, something that our caucus has been pushing for the past several weeks, is super encouraging,” she declared.
