Footage has been unearthed of disgraced Tennessee state representative Justin Jones stopping cars and assaulting drivers during summer protests outside of the state Capitol in 2020.
Jones had claimed at the time that the narrative that he was violent was false.
The footage proves otherwise.
“They will try to push a false narrative portraying me as “violent” as a way to deflect from their own actions. They will suggest that I am out of order. That is their strategy. However, I’m hopeful for the chance to present our evidence in a transparent manner.” Jones tweeted.
Local blog Scoop Nashville featured the violent footage in 2021, writing:
“In June of 2020, Justin Bautista-Jones, better known as ‘Brother Jones’ locally, was one of the publicly visible (often by design) protestors at the State Capitol. He received a lot of pushback from his own community after it was discovered he was often only making appearances when he knew there would be media coverage, and eventually had a falling out with one of the other most visible female members of the group.
“Throughout the entire time, he has faced over a dozen charges but always denied that he was violent – despite multiple assaults, assault on an officer, and reckless endangerment charges. In the newly obtained video, one of his assaults was captured, and presented to the Grand Jury – and he was indicted on two counts of reckless endangerment.”
On Monday afternoon, Jones, a Democrat who was expelled for leading an anti-gun protest into the storming of state Capitol last month, was reinstated to the House.
The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously to reinstate Jones. All 36 members of the council voted to reappoint him as an interim representative for the 52nd District.
Jones had claimed that his removal was due to a “white supremacist system.”
“Though their vote was racist, though their vote was to expel the two youngest Black lawmakers, their attack on democracy hurts all of us, whether you’re Black, brown or White, it’s an assault on all of us” Jones said to Al Sharpton on MSNBC.
In his incarnation as an activist, Jones was previously barred from contacting certain “lawmakers and visiting the legislative building until April 22, 2020.” This was the result of a seperate incident in which he was accused of throwing a cup of liquid at ex-House Speaker Glen Casada.
basketball jones there would’ve gotten some extra button holes.