Al Sharpton Presses Tennessee Dem About His Viral Police Rampage: What Happened ‘To Warrant Such A Response?’

MS NOW’s Al Sharpton pressed Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) on his viral exchange with state troopers on Sunday, questioning him over what provoked such a heated response a few days earlier.

Pearson confronted Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers on Thursday outside a chaotic redistricting vote at the state Capitol.

The troopers were attempting to clear protesters from the building, reportedly trying to escort Pearson’s brother away from the scene. Local outlet WKRN caught Pearson telling the officers to let go of his brother in an interaction that saw the state representative scream in the face of a trooper and call him a “stupid motherf**ker.”

Sharpton brought up the moment on Sunday’s PoliticsNation, asking Pearson to discuss what caused his reaction and what he would “want to be done about it.” Pearson, who is also making a bid for a Tennessee congressional seat, told the host that the officer he had accosted had not followed instructions.

“So the state troopers were kicking everyone out of the gallery. My brother and two of our friends and family, really, Lauren and Allison, refused. They stayed seated in the gallery. They weren’t being a disruption, and the speaker of the house had commanded, in essence, that the troopers remove everyone,” he said. “I said that I would walk my brother down after some troopers had hemmed him up, and the supervisor had agreed to that, but one of the troopers refused to listen.”

Pearson was protesting a redistricting effort that has since been signed into law by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R). The GOP gerrymander could allow for Republican control of all nine of the state’s districts, eliminating the majority-Black district around the city of Memphis. The Tennessee law was made possible by last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a crucial part of the Voting Rights Act requiring states with a history of racial discrimination to ensure minority representation in Congress.

The state representative went on to tie his confrontation with the troopers to the overarching political moment, claiming that America was in a “Jim Crow 2.0.”

“And this is what happens in this moment and era that we’re in, of Jim Crow 2.0, where white supremacy believes that it can exercise its power and authority over us, denying us agency over our own bodies,” he said. “But now, my brother was detained with Allison and Lauren, but they all are out, and they’re continuing the fight.”

Watch above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!