Activist Justin Jones to challenge U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper; progressive group 'ecstatic' to see competitive primary

Natalie Allison | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption Activists arrested following protest of Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue at the capitol Two activists, Justin Jones and Janeisha Harris were arrested during a protest at the Tennessee Capitol building.

Justin Jones, a graduate divinity student who for years has led political protests in Nashville, is now moving beyond activism and running for political office.

His target: U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, a 28-year veteran of Congress and member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition of Democrats.

Jones filed his statement of candidacy Monday with the Federal Election Commission, but did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him that evening and on Tuesday.

“I like Justin and I welcome the competition from him or anyone," Cooper said in a statement Tuesday. "Competition is good.”

Mary Mancini, chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, said she would "echo what Congressman Cooper said" regarding the competition being welcomed, but had not yet spoken with Jones about his plans.

"Jim is a great congressman and a dedicated Democrat," Mancini said. "He and his office, they're real public servants. Whatever happens in the primary, the most important thing is we have a Democrat elected in district 5."

The 24-year-old activist has twice been arrested in roughly the past year, the first time in October 2018 while attending a campaign event for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Jones and another woman were waiting for the event to start when they were asked to leave, and subsequently were detained and charged with trespassing.

Those charges were dismissed earlier this year.

In February, Jones was arrested at the Tennessee State Capitol and charged with assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly pouring a cup containing liquid into an elevator where then-House Speaker Glen Casada and others were standing.

Jones was at the Capitol to protest the presence of a bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, an early Ku Klux Klan leader.

While the case is pending in court, Jones remains banned from the Capitol and legislative office building.

"I pray that the violence of racism will produce similar outrage in the TN Capitol as a few drops of iced tea in a paper cup," Jones said following the February 28 arrest.

In the weeks before the incident at the Capitol, Jones had also disrupted a House Republican news conference on healthcare while trying to get Casada's attention and led a sit-in in Casada's office with other students.

Nashville and Middle Tennessee Indivisible announced in a statement the progressive political activist group was "ecstatic" to see a "competitive primary" in Cooper's race.

In a statement, Kate Briefs, of the organization's 2020 political engagement team, said Cooper and his brother, newly-elected Nashville mayor John Cooper, embody "white, dynastic wealth."

Indivisible is awaiting other candidates to file in the race before making endorsements.

Mancini said she has "heard some rumors of other Democrats jumping into the primary" also, but so far no other candidates have declared their intentions.

Jones' official name as filed with the FEC and in the court system is Justin Bautista-Jones.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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