State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), the Democrats’ nominee for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, announced Thursday that he filed a lawsuit against the City of Memphis after officials barred him from attending two Memphis City Council meetings following the protest that ended its October 6 meeting prematurely.
Justin Pearson announced the lawsuit in a social media post, revealing that his co-plaintiffs include his mother, Dr. Kimberly Owens-Pearson, and his brother, KeShaun Pearson. Justin Pearson previously launched the Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP) activist group, which is now led by KeShaun Pearson.
The group organized a series of events leading up to the October 6 meeting, including an appearance by Justin Pearson, and culminated in a protest outside the Memphis City Council meeting. Memphis city leaders were set to consider several proposals related to data centers, and the city is notably home to the SpaceX AI data centers which power its chatbot Grok.
“We’re suing the Memphis City Council to protect our First Amendment right to free speech,” wrote Pearson in a post to X.
We’re suing the Memphis City Council to protect our First Amendment right to free speech.
[Thread 1/3] ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/d16TFVbQr2
— Justin J. Pearson (@Justinjpearson) October 15, 2026
“The Council’s abuse of power and pattern of intimidation to silence dissenting voices is a slippery slope that can lead to a chilling effect on the public’s willingness to speak up and hold public officials accountable for their decision-making,” Justin Pearson then alleged. “We cannot allow this to be normalized.”
The Democrat then called his lawsuit a fight for activists’ ability to access Memphis City Council meetings, “a fight for our fundamental rights and our democracy.”
Justin Pearson stated, “We won’t let these rights be abridged by the White House, statehouse, or City Hall.”
We cannot allow this to be normalized.
This is a fight for our fundamental rights and our democracy. We won’t let these rights be abridged by the White House, statehouse, or City Hall.
[Thread 3/3]
— Justin J. Pearson (@Justinjpearson) October 15, 2026
Justin Pearson was served with paperwork on October 9 that informed him he would be prohibited from attending the October 20 and November 10 meetings held by the Memphis City Council, while at least one of the other plaintiffs was banned from the October 8 and October 20 meetings.
The Vanderbilt Law School’s First Amendment Clinic represents them, and their complaint challenges the council’s rules against speech characterized as personal attacks, gossip, or abusive language, arguing they are vague and allow viewpoint discrimination.
Two of the Democrats’ co-plaintiffs, Amber Sherman and LaJuana Abraham, previously sued the Shelby County Board of Education after the board prohibited them from attending school board meetings.
Abraham is the same Memphis activist law enforcement questioned last November after she posted on social media about State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), now Justin Pearson’s opponent in the General Election.
Just months after Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a gunman who shot him in the neck, Abraham wrote in a now-deleted post on social media that Taylor “looks like he’s ready to catch one in the throat.”
The activist later claimed the post was a homophobic joke.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Justin Pearson” by Justin Pearson.
