Justin Shea Bautista-Jones (born August 25, 1995) is an American activist and politician from the state of Tennessee.[1] A member of the Democratic Party, he serves in the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 52, representing parts of Nashville. As of 2023, Jones is the second youngest member of the State House. He was expelled in April 2023 for violating decorum rules by participating in a gun control protest on the House floor. The Nashville Metro Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones to serve as an interim representative pending a special election to fill the seat.[2][3]
Jones was arrested for refusing to leave a rally held by Marsha Blackburn in October 2018.[9] He was charged in 2019 with assaulting Glen Casada, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, by allegedly throwing a drink, believed to be a hot coffee, at him.[10] He was also banned from the Capitol.[11] Casada later agreed to drop the charges.[12]
In 2020, Jones organized a 62-day sit-in protest for racial justice outside the state capitol after the murder of George Floyd. Among others, he was charged with assault, assault on an officer, and reckless endangerment after throwing a traffic cone into a moving truck's open driver-side window; Jones claimed that the driver was threatening him and using racial slurs.[13] He was arrested and faced a total of 14 charges.[14] Many of the charges were dropped in July 2021, but the reckless endangerment charges remained.[15] An assault charge regarding Jones allegedly hitting a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper with a bullhorn in July 2020 was dismissed by a judge in April 2023.[16]
After the March 2023 Covenant School shooting, Jones joined a protest alongside Gloria Johnson and Justin J. Pearson for gun control reform that disrupted House proceedings at the state capitol.[21] The demonstration violated the chamber's decorum rules, as the three members were not recognized to speak and utilized a bullhorn.[22] He was removed from his committees as a result.[23][24] On April 5, Rep. Jones filed a police report after he was allegedly assaulted on the House floor by Rep. Justin Lafferty.[25] Prior to his expulsion vote, Jones accused Representative Sabi "Doc" Kumar of putting a "brown face to white supremacy"; Kumar also stated that Jones had pointed in his face and told him, "Kumar, they will never accept you."[26]
The Tennessee House voted on April 6, to expel Jones, alongside Pearson, who are both black. Johnson, who is white, survived by one vote.[27] Johnson argued that her race was the reason she was not expelled,[28] while Republican members noted that she did not take the protest as far as Jones and Pearson.[29] The resolution, HR65, was sponsored by Bud Hulsey and co-sponsored by Gino Bulso, Andrew Farmer, and Johnny Garrett; it passed with a vote of 72–25.[30] The Metropolitan Council of Nashville and Davidson County set a meeting to discuss an interim appointment to the vacant District52 on April10.[31][32] Jones was appointed interim representative to his former seat by a unanimous vote of 36–0.[2]
On April 24, Jones, alongside Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson, were received by President Joe Biden at the White House.[33] During his appearance at Netroots Nation in July, Jones accused House leadership of fascism, and stated his belief that the heirs of the Ku Klux Klan run the state government.[34]
Aftermath
On January 10, 2024, Jones became the first lawmaker penalized under a new rule that allows the Tennessee legislature to vote to silence, for the remainder of the day, any lawmaker who is ruled out of order. The rule was evoked against Jones after he described SpeakerCameron Sexton as “drunk with power.”[35]
President Joe Biden with Justin Jones at the White House in April 2023
On January 30, 2024, a Tennessee legislative staffer was placed on leave after confronting Jones in the hallway and yelling at him until another lawmaker intervened.[36]
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