*Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson raised $860,000 in campaign donations after he was expelled from the House floor during a gun control protest in April.
We reported previously citing CNN that state Republican lawmakers expelled Pearson and fellow Democrat Justin Jones (a Black man) for advocating for gun reform measures on the chamber floor. Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is White, also participated in the demonstration but she survived the ousting. Per CNN, when asked by the outlet why she believes she wasn’t expelled, Johnson said the reason is “pretty clear.”
“I am a 60-year-old White woman, and they are two young Black men,” Johnson said.
As CNN reported, in a statement at the time, President Joe Biden called the expulsions “shocking, undemocratic and without precedent.”
“Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” the president said.
Protesters packed the state Capitol to denounce the expulsions of Jones and Pearson. A week after the incident, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners reappointed him to the Tennessee House of Representatives, sending him back to fill the House District 86 seat as an interim representative. The vote to appoint Pearson passed 7-0.
According to the Associated Press, Pearson was able to use his newfound fame to raise nearly $900,000 from 31,700 campaign donations following his removal.
As Black Enterprise reports, Pearson said, “To see so much support, particularly from these tens of thousands of small-dollar donations, is a testament to what I believe is a people-powered movement, which is that we all have something to contribute, and our little bits of contribution makes a lot.”
The donation money could help equalize the margins between the Democrats and Republicans in the legislative chambers, according to Pearson.
“That amount of money is a testament to, really, how badly this issue went for House Republicans,” said Middle Tennessee State University’s political science professor, Kent Syler, Black Enterprise reports. “It gave Democrats an incredible platform in Tennessee that they haven’t had in a couple of decades.”
READ MORE: ‘Tennessee Three’ Member Justin Pearson Mocked for ‘Fake Preachy’ Accent | Video
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