MS NOW’s Al Sharpton asked a Democrat lawmaker about what provoked his outburst during a confrontation with Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers.
The host of “Politics Nation” was speaking with Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) on Sunday when he questioned him about the exchange last week that went viral when Pearson blasted the law enforcement officer as a “stupid motherf**ker.”
“Protesters were removed from the Tennessee Capitol Thursday morning before the vote on redistricting began. Parachutes were reportedly thrown from the House galley, and security told News 2 that a fire alarm was possibly pulled,” WKRN reported after the chaos last week. “However, things turned heated in the gallery as THP troopers moved to clear protesters, with one of the protesters reportedly including Pearson’s brother.”
BREAKING🚨: Tennessee State Rep. Justin Pearson (D) caught on camera erupting at State Troopers, getting in their faces after the 2026 redistricting bill passes.
Pearson: “MOVE THE FCK BACK! BOY!! What the fck is wrong with you?! You stupid motherf*cker!”
Anger over losing the… pic.twitter.com/AzUx685g5o
— Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) May 7, 2026
“First, how is your brother?” Sharpton asked Pearson on his show.
“And tell me what exactly was happening there to warrant such a response, and what do you want to be done about it?” he added after playing a clip of the lawmaker’s confrontation with troopers.
(Video Credit: MS NOW)
“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,” Pearson, who is running for a Tennessee congressional seat, replied.
“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 went on to excuse his behavior due to the context of the moment with the redistricting effort, 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 told Sharpton. “But now, my brother was detained with Allison and Lauren, but they all are out, and they’re continuing the fight.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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