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steve cohen
'This Moment Calls for a True Fighter': Progressive Group Backs Justin Pearson for Congress
"Justice Democrats is so proud to endorse Justin J. Pearson to bring people-first leadership to Tennessee's only Democratic district," said the group's executive director.
Oct 08, 2025
Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, currently running to represent the 9th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, was endorsed Wednesday by the national progressive group Justice Democrats, which said his history of fearless leadership is precisely what the country needs to combat the authoritarian push by Republicans, including President Donald Trump.
"Justice Democrats is so proud to endorse Justin J. Pearson to bring people-first leadership to Tennessee's only Democratic district," said the group's executive director, Alexandra Rojas, in a statement.
The candidate said he was "honored" to have the group's support, and its investment gives him "the opportunity to join the ranks of progressive, working-class champions" in Congress, pointing to Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
"We look forward to fighting alongside them in their visionary efforts to identify, nurture, and uplift bold, progressive, and courageous leaders to help our country overcome corporate greed, white supremacy, patriarchy, inequality, authoritarianism, and other attacks on democracy," he added.
"The communities and rising young leadership Justin represents in the 9th are on the frontlines of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's war on working families."
Pearson, who represents the 86th District in the Tennessee House of Representatives, which includes parts of Memphis, garnered national attention as one of the "Tennessee Three" in 2023, when the chamber's Republicans expelled him and Rep. Justin Jones (D-52) over their protest for stricter gun laws in the wake of the deadly Covenant School shooting in Nashville. Local officials quickly reinstated both men.
The 30-year-old's congressional campaign comes as Trump has sent National Guard troops to multiple US communities, and The Associated Press reports that they "could also be in Memphis by Friday." Pearson is among the local elected officials who have spoken out about sending soldiers to the city.
"The communities and rising young leadership Justin represents in the 9th are on the frontlines of Donald Trump and Elon Musk's war on working families," said Rojas. "They are showing the country, like so many other major cities under attack, what it means to truly come together to protect one another, not roll over, and fight back."
"This district does not have time to wait or keep going with the same status quo leadership that has governed for decades," she continued. "Tennessee voters need more than congressional letters and tweets—they need a congressperson that will fight with every tool at their disposal to deliver real, tangible change with solutions as big as the crises we face."
Justice Democrats shared a launch video on social media, arguing that "this moment calls for a true fighter like Justin."
"He is part of a wave of working-class, progressive candidates who are vital in the federal fight to take on Trump's authoritarianism, realign the Dem Party, excite our base, and turn out who we need to win up and down the ballot," said the group—which is also supporting Donavan McKinney's primary challenge to Rep. Shri Thanedar in Michigan's 13th District and Angela Gonzales-Torres in her race against Congressman Jimmy Gomez in California's 34th District.
In an interview published Wednesday, Pearson spoke with The Nation's Chris Lehmann about his Democratic primary challenge to 10-term incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen. According to the magazine's DC bureau chief, the Memphis native expressed gratitude for the congressman's service but emphasized his "working-class background against Cohen's status as a veteran Capitol Hill insider who recently purchased a condominium in Washington," and added that "he would diverge from Cohen's stalwart support for Israel in Congress."
Lehmann noted that "Justice Democrats, in the tradition of campaign advocacy groups, goes after Cohen more directly in its statement endorsing Pearson," calling out the 76-year-old incumbent for "cashing checks" from corporate political action committees while embracing "the model of the average absentee congressman."
"His lack of engaged and active representation has lowered expectations Memphians have for their congressperson," Justice Democrats said, "further eroding civil engagement and inspiring political cynicism in a working-class community already under attack on all sides."
In addition to Justice Democrats, Pearson is backed by Leaders We Deserve, a group led by former Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, who said in a statement, "In this moment of crisis, I'm calling on Rep. Steve Cohen to pass the torch to Justin J. Pearson—a transformational leader who can inspire a new generation."
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Trump Deploying National Guard to Memphis Called 'Cruel Intimidation Tactic'
“When military troops police civilians, we have an intolerable threat to individual liberty and the foundational values of this country,” said the head of the ACLU's National Security Project.
Sep 16, 2025
Leaders at the ACLU on Tuesday joined other rights advocates and elected Democrats in condemning US President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard to Memphis with a Monday order he signed beside Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee.
“When military troops police civilians, we have an intolerable threat to individual liberty and the foundational values of this country,” said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, in a statement.
“President Trump may want to normalize armed forces in our cities, but no matter what uniform they wear, federal agents and military troops are bound by the Constitution and have to respect our rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of speech, and due process," Shamsi continued. "State and local leaders must stay strong and take all lawful measures to protect residents against this cruel intimidation tactic.”
While Lee expressed his gratitude to Trump for the order, some other elected officials in Tennessee have spoken out since Trump previewed his plans for Memphis on "Fox & Friends" last Friday.
The Associated Press reported on local opposition Monday:
“I did not ask for the National Guard, and I don’t think it’s the way to drive down crime,” Memphis Mayor Paul Young told a news conference Friday while acknowledging the city remained high on too many “bad lists.”
Young has also said that now the decision is made, he wants to ensure he can help influence the Guard’s role. He mentioned possibilities such as traffic control for big events, monitoring cameras for police and undertaking beautification projects.
At a news conference Monday, some local Democrats urged officials to consider options to oppose the deployment. Tami Sawyer, Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk, said the city or county could sue.
State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-86), whose district includes parts of the city, declared, “We need poverty eradication, not military occupation!”
Denouncing Trump's targeting of Memphis on MSNBC, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said that "having the National Guard here is unnecessary and it is a stunt. It's just a Trump show, to show his power and his force."
"I think this may be the first representation of his changing the Department of Defense to the Department of War, because he likes to put the National Guard at his direction, as his being the great warrior, into cities and going to war," he added.
According to a White House fact sheet, Trump's memorandum tasks Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with requesting Lee "make Tennessee National Guard units available to support public safety and law enforcement operations in Memphis," and further directs Hegseth to "coordinate with state governors to mobilize National Guard personnel from those states to support this effort."
The order also "establishes a Memphis Safe Task Force tasked with ending street and violent crime in Memphis to the greatest possible extent, including by coordinating closely with state and local officials in Tennessee, Memphis, and neighboring jurisdictions to share information, develop joint priorities, and maximize resources to make Memphis safe and restore public order."
🪡Governor Bill Lee, Senator Marsha Blackburn, Rep. David Kustoff, and Sen. Brent Taylor have chosen fear-mongering and authoritarianism over real solutions. They voted to gut healthcare and food security from Memphians. Sending troops will not fix the failures they created.
— Indivisible Memphis (@indivisiblememphis.bsky.social) September 14, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Washington, DC, and Los Angeles, California, and threatened to do so in Chicago, Illinois, where his deadly "Operation Midway Blitz" targeting immigrants is already underway.
"Expanding military involvement into US civilian law enforcement is dangerous and unwarranted," Tanya Greene, US program director at Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday. "The Trump administration's continued deployment of military forces in cities with populations primarily comprised of people of color, like Memphis, risks exacerbating violence against immigrants, unhoused people, and poor people in general."
"While communities desperately need food, affordable housing, and healthcare," she added, "hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are being squandered on these deployments."
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