Tennessee state Democrat Rep. Justin Jones seen in 2020 climbing on top of a police car during a BLM protest
Footage from a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest shows demonstrators, including now-Tennessee Democrat Rep. Justin Jones, climbing on top of a police car. (MNPD)
Tennessee state Democrat Rep. Justin Jones – one of two lawmakers expelled from the state House last week – took part in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Nashville, where he reportedly walked on top of a police car and was subsequently charged with a crime before he was let off.
The incident, which was captured on video, showed Jones, along with fellow activist Jeneisha Harris, walking atop a police car as dozens of rowdy and seemingly uncontrollable protesters surrounded them.
Following the incident, charges were brought against Jones and Harris, and arrest warrants were issued over damage that was done to the car during the protest.
Less than three hours after the warrants were issued, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) announced that "after a review of additional information" the "MNPD and District Attorney General Glenn Funk agree that the arrest warrants issued last night against Justin-Bautista-Jones and Janeisha Harris will be recalled for the present."
Tennessee state Democratic Rep. Justin Jones took part in a May 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Nashville, where he reportedly walked on top of a police car and was subsequently charged with a crime before her was let off. (Seth Herald/Getty Images, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)
Around the time the warrants were issued in June 2020, Nashville's Fox 17 reported that "Metro spokesman Don Aaron states 60 detectives have been sorting through video and photographic evidence from last Saturday's protest which resulted in a courthouse being set on fire along with other vandalism."
"In reviewing video and photographs, the detective observed Jones and (Jeneisha) Harris standing on the roof of a marked police car," Aaron said of the incident at the time, according to the outlet. "This same car was significantly damaged by several persons Saturday – spray painted, windows broken, etc. The detective at the South Precinct identified Jones and Harris as persons who were on the roof of the car, and Daniel Lane of Franklin as a person who spray painted it."
After Jones and Harris stepped down from the marked police car, other protesters climbed on top and began kicking in windows and damaging the car.
Both Jones and Harris – two prominent activists in the Nashville area when the protest took place – claimed the MNPD had sent SWAT teams to their homes after the arrest warrants were issued, according to Nashville Scene. However, Aaron said the claims that SWAT teams were sent to their homes were "untrue," according to Fox 17.
State Rep. Justin Jones listens as Linda Sarsour speaks before Jones is reinstated to his seat in municipal court on April 10, 2023, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Seth Herald/Getty Images)
Jones did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment about his behavior during the 2020 protest.
Jones, who represents Tennessee's 52nd District in the state House, was one of three lawmakers, along with Democrat Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson, who riled up gun control protesters and took to the House floor to call on their colleagues to take action against gun violence last month.
As a consequence of their actions, both Jones and Pearson were expelled from the House by Republicans. The protest from the Democratic lawmakers came after a transgender shooter killed six people, including three children, at a private Christian school in Nashville.
A 2019 report from The Tennessean stated that Jones "was charged with two counts of misdemeanor assault and one count of disorderly conduct after" police said he threw a cup of coffee into an elevator and struck then-House Speaker Glen Casada, a Republican, and GOP state Rep. Debra Moody.
Tennessee Democrat Reps. Justin Pearson, Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson as they exit the House Chamber doors at the Tennessee state Capitol in Nashville on April 3, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Amid his controversial past and expulsion from the state House, Jones, who was sent back to the legislature on an interim basis Monday following a unanimous vote by the Nashville Metropolitan Council, has called for the Republican speaker of the statehouse to resign.
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"He is an enemy of democracy, and he doesn’t deserve to be in that office of a speaker of the house any longer," Jones told CNN of House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
Pearson is the only one, as of now, who did not get to keep his position in the House. While Johnson faced expulsion, she ultimately survived a vote.
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