Reinstated black politician Justin Pearson sworn in to Tennessee legislature

Justin Pearson is sworn in at the State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday, April 13, 2023 (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP/PA)

The second of two black Democrats expelled from the Republican-led Tennessee House followed his colleague back to work at the Capitol on Thursday, a week after their expulsion for participating in a gun control protest.

Justin Pearson, from Memphis, was sworn in on Thursday outside the statehouse. The day before, Shelby County commissioners voted to reinstate him.