Watch: 5 Men Have to Escort Woke Rep from TN Chamber After He Charged at GOP Colleague - Report
Tennessee Democratic State Rep. Justin Pearson appeared to lunge at a colleague as a committee considered legislation on gun policy.
A viral video showed Pearson, a staunch advocate for gun control, approaching Tennessee Republican State Rep. Andrew Farmer on Wednesday.
Pearson was seeking to advance a bill ending permitless carry, an effort which ultimately failed, according to a report from WREG-TV in Memphis.
The outlet said reporters at the hearing heard Pearson comment about a purported lack of action on limiting firearms.
Farmer then said that Pearson had been absent from many legislative proceedings.
“I know every member in this committee has been here this year working during committee, during session, voting on bills,” Farmer said.
“And I know you may have some things going on, but you have not,” he continued. “So, I don’t think it’s fair for you to come in front of this committee and lecture us on hard work and convictions, and hard work for our committee.”
Video of the incident, from WKRN-TV, can be seen below.
Meanwhile in Nashville, State Rep. Justin Pearson (Memphis) lunges at Rep. Andrew Farmer (Sevierville) during a heated debate over gun legislation. Video: WKRN pic.twitter.com/Gh01uRC2az
— KWAM News Radio 990 AM Memphis (@Mighty990KWAM) March 26, 2025
Pearson said he was absent because his brother died by suicide committed with a firearm.
“It is a pathetic excuse for you to not answer the question of why we are doing nothing about the gun violence epidemic, then to personally attack me,” the lawmaker said.
“And since that happened, it shattered my family like gun violence has shattered so many families,” Pearson added. “I buried my brother. I planned for his entire funeral, my fiancée made his obituary, I made sure that he was taken care of — even in death. That’s what I’ve been doing.”
Pearson yelled that Farmer should “learn when to shut up.”
The video then showed Pearson physically charging the Republican, after which several colleagues rose to physically restrain him and the presiding legislator called for a recess.
The incident on Wednesday came almost two years after Pearson, along with Tennessee Democratic State Rep. Justin Jones, was expelled from the Tennessee House for breaking procedural rules and leading a gun control protest on the floor.
Pearson was soon reinstated to his seat by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners, according to a report from NPR.
“This is the Democracy that is going to transform a broken nation and a broken state into the place that God calls for it to be,” Pearson said in an interview at the time.
“This is the Democracy that is going to lift up the victims of gun violence instead of supporting the NRA and the gun lobbyists,” he added.
NPR implied that Tennessee Democratic State Rep. Gloria Johnson was spared from expulsion because she is white.
The outlet quoted Otis Sanford, a professor at the University of Memphis, asserting that the ousters were “a throwback to our racist past.”
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