The advisor for Justin Jones, the Vanderbilt Divinity School student who disrupted last month’s Marsha Blackburn rally, reportedly said Tennessee Republican Party officials acted in sin when they removed him from that venue.
Jones’ advisor, Phillis Shepherd, made remarks about her student this week in an interview with The Tennessee Tribune.
“When power — whether it’s governmental power, political power or the power that comes with position — is exploited and used to silence people, that really falls in the category of sin,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd, on her Twitter page, described herself as an “awakening-womanist scholar activist psychoanalyst poet artist linking spirituality and justice.”
Many of The Tennessee Star’s readers asked on our social media pages how it is that Jones, a man who professes to follow God so devoutly, could behave in such an abrasive and disrespectful manner.
Authorities charged Jones with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest, as The Star reported.
Tennessee GOP officials recognized Jones as an instigator from prior events. They asked Jones to leave the site of the rally, the Ray Stevens’ CabaRay Showroom in Nashville. This was a private event. Jones refused. Law enforcement officials removed him by force, but not without him resisting.
Jones’ lawyer, Nick Leonardo reportedly told The Tribune that GOP officials removed his client from the rally because he is “a young person of color.”
“Jones is an outstanding young man, scholar and advocate for the equal treatment of all people and looks forward to his day in court,” Leonardo said.
As The Tennessee Star reported, Jones harassed former Republican State Sen. Mae Beavers last year. Jones said he plans to visit Blackburn’s office after she takes the oath as a U.S. senator early next year.
As reported, Jones has a habit of provoking his political opponents to anger, and he later portrays them on social media in the worst possible light, as aggressors, or even racists.
Also, as reported, Jones accepted an American Civil Liberties Union award in November 2016.
According to video of the event, which Jones’ grandmother posted on her personal Facebook page, Jones called upon young people to fight for liberty and justice.
“Young people and those who are young at heart, we have five words for you,” Jones said as he accepted the award.
“See you in the streets. We will disrupt. We will organize. We will shut down injustice. Know we will not normalize hatred in this country.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
I just don’t understand if Jones is so unhappy here, why not move?
You say “we will not normalize hatred in this country”, you’re right in saying this. You’re actually elevating hate by inciting liberal rage and agendas. As a student of divinity, shouldn’t your focus be on the murder of millions of unborn babies within your party affiliation, or maybe the sexual sins resembling Sodom and Gomorrah in today’s society? Makes one question the divinity department at “prestigious” Vanderbilt. There’s no questioning your motives however as a liberal snowflake. Must be on George Soros payroll. That’s something to be proud of……