MEMPHIS, Tenn. — "Resurrection" was top of mind for District 86 representative Justin Pearson after being expelled from his seat in the Tennessee House and then promptly being asked to speak to the congregation of a Memphis church on Easter Sunday.
Pearson was selected by Church of the River as a guest pastor April 9, where he thanked "all of our loved ones who've journeyed — who've wiped these tears from these eyes, lifted up my chin and also my heart."
Pearson read passages from Matthew 28 in The Bible and asked the congregation to humor him during "this moment where persecution is happening. This moment where our democracy is at stake."
"The Republican led supermajority of the Tennessee assembly sought to have a political lynching of three of its members because we spoke out of turn against the status quo of the government after the tragic deaths of six people at the Covenant school in Nashville," Pearson said during the sermon.
Pearson listed the names of those who were shot and killed at Covenant School, specifically stating and reminding the crowd that Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs were nine years old.
Pearson also made note that roughly 55 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis due to "gun violence." Pearson quoted King's own words stating "The movement lives or dies in Memphis."
"The movement for democracy lives or dies in Memphis," Pearson said. "The movement to end gun violence lives or dies in Memphis. We’ve seen those who want to kill the movement in the republican lead supermajority."
Pearson made a point to state "I am not our lord in saviour Jesus Christ. I am just Justin J. Pearson," but, to laughter and applause in the congregation, directly likened Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to Pontius Pilate.
"Because we walked to the well of the house out of turn, resolutions were unjustly and undemocratically filed against us on these trumped up charges," Pearson said. "Because we spoke out against the empire of the NRA of the gun lobbyists; because we demanded an end to gun violence, an end to the proliferation of weapons on our streets, an end to the funerals we attend day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year — because we did that, the Republican-lead general assembly with the support of folks even in this district like Mark White, from our own community, thought it better to get rid of our democratic representation in district 86 than to actually solve the problem."
The church's livestream of the entire service can be accessed through this YouTube link below. Pearson's sermons starts around where 30 minutes and 10 seconds remain in the stream:
Pearson and Nashville representative Justin Jones will have a chance to return to the legislature if they run for those seats again during upcoming special elections.
A date for the special elections hasn't been decided yet, but Nashville and Memphis-area leaders will soon take up the matter.
The Nashville Metro Council will hold a special meeting next Monday to select someone to fill Justin Jones' seat in the interim, and that someone could be Justin Jones. Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he believes the council will send Jones right back to his seat in the interim.
Likewise, the same could happen for Pearson in Memphis. Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery said Thursday night he plans to call a special meeting over Pearson's expulsion.
President Joe Biden spoke Friday afternoon with "the Tennessee Three." The White House said the President thanked the three “for their leadership in seeking to ban assault weapons and standing up for our democratic values.”
Vice President Kamala Harris also spoke with the representatives, heading to Nashville Friday for an in-person trip to meet with the Tennessee Three and discuss gun reform with state lawmakers.
In a tweet, Harris said that Justin Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson "won't be silenced and their demands for gun reform must be heard."