Tennessee Lawmaker Says Justin Jones Wanted To Be Kicked Out To Increase His National Exposure

Image Credit: capitol.tn.gov

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

In a CNN interview with Jake Tapper, Representative Bryan Richey (R-Maryville-District 20) says Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville-District 52) wanted to be kicked out of the Tennessee General Assembly in order to increase his national exposure.

Richey’s interview lends credibility to the theory that the circumstances propelling three Democratic lawmakers into the national spotlight was a coordinated stunt.

Jones’ office is next door to Richey’s. In the days leading up to the vote on the House floor that removed Jones, Richey says that they had many conversations with Jones requesting that Richey vote to expel him.

Richey did vote to expel Jones, but not Representatives Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville-District 90) or Justin Pearson (D-Memphis-District 86).

While Richey did believe that the lawmakers deserved discipline for their actions, he was not in favor of removing them for their breach of decorum.

“I had multiple conversations with [Jones] this week letting him know that I wasn’t in favor,” said Richey. “And essentially, he told me that he wanted to be kicked out because his following was growing. He’s getting all this national exposure and that the Metro City Council had already said that they were going to reappoint him back to the General Assembly. So, I was honoring his wishes in voting for him.”

Instead, Richey advised House leadership that the three should be stripped of all privileges and committee assignments rendering them ineffective.

Fellow lawmaker Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mount Juliet-District 57) labeled the three “defiant and disrespectful” following their stunt on the House floor where they egged on a mass of protestors with Jones utilizing a bull horn to shout slogans with them.

The drama surrounding the subsequent expulsion of two lawmakers and the near removal of the other elevated all three to national notoriety.

“While we are all grieving the Covenant School tragedy, they choose to raise themselves up, making themselves higher than the poor victims and their families. They used the victims to repeatedly get on the news to score political points for themselves,” said Lynn.

For their antics, the three Democrats were rewarded with an appearance on Good Morning America last week, and a visit from the Vice President while Tennessee Democrats used the situation as an excuse to fundraise.

Jones is no stranger to using tragedy as a stepping stone for activism. 

Between June and August 2020, during demonstrations outside the Capitol, Jones was charged more than 15 times with offenses that ranged from trespassing to assault of an officer. The District Attorney’s office said Jones threw a traffic cone into the driver’s side window of a moving vehicle. Jones led members of a group that camped in the legislative plaza for two months in the wake of George Floyd’s death. 

The charges were later dismissed by Davidson County General Sessions Judge Lynda Jones.

Jones has also previously made a name for himself for unbecoming conduct within the Tennessee House. In 2019, he was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct after throwing a cup of what was believed to be hot coffee into an elevator at two representatives, one of them the former Speaker of the House. Jones later said the cup contained iced tea.

Jones had assembled with other protestors over the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and former slave trader, that was displayed at the Capitol. The bust was eventually moved to the Tennessee State Museum.

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.