Republican lawmakers in Tennessee He voted Thursday to expel two Democratic lawmakers who joined a House protest last week after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. On March 30, protesters gathered at the State Capitoland Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson led a “power to the people” chant from the House floor.
On Thursday, lawmakers first voted 72-25 to expel Jones, 27, one of the youngest members of the legislature. The resolution to expel Johnson failed by a vote, 65 to 30. But Pearson, 28, was also expelled, in a vote of 69 to 26. The Republican supermajority had accused the representatives of violating rules of conduct and decoration
“A state where the Ku Klux Klan was founded is now attempting another power grab by silencing the two youngest black representatives,” Jones told the House before the vote.
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Johnson was asked why he thought he was spared while his two black colleagues were not.
“It might have to do with the color of our skin,” Johnson, who is white, told CNN.
“This is not about expelling us as individuals. This is your attempt to expel the voices of the people from the town hall. It will not succeed,” Jones said before the vote. “Your overreaction, your flexing of false power has awakened a generation of people who will let you know that your time is up.”
The forced expulsion of legislators of any state legislature in the US is extremely rare. The house in Tennessee had it had previously expelled only eight lawmakers – six of them racist confederates in the 19th century for refusing to affirm the citizenship of formerly enslaved blacks, one in the 20th century for a bribery conviction and one in the 21st century for sexual misconduct.
“Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who participated in a peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented,” President Biden said in a statement Thursday night. “Instead of debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence and oust the duly elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.”
Each of the lawmakers facing expulsion was given time to speak before the vote.
“The world is watching Tennessee,” Jones said. “What is happening here today is a travesty of democracy. What is happening here today is a situation where the jury has already publicly announced the verdict.”
Jones said he spoke for young voters in his district “terrified” by mass shootings and criticized the house for not expelling other members who have confessed to crimes or misbehaved in their roles.
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Johnson, a retired teacher, called accusations that she was yelling and pounding on the podium during the protest “false.” He also recounted his own experiences with a school shooting.
“I have to speak up for the people in my district. My people sent me here because I’m a fighter,” Johnson said.
Johnson, 60, defended his younger colleagues facing ouster ahead of the vote, saying: “We have to welcome this younger generation, who might do it a little bit differently , but they fight for their constituency”.
In remarks before the vote, Pearson invoked the civil rights movement and civil disobedience, saying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. he spoke of putting “conscience above rule.”
“We’ve heard from thousands of people asking us to do something about gun violence,” Pearson said. “What is in the best interest of our people is to end gun violence.”
“This country was built on protest,” he added in his emotional opening speech. “You who celebrate the 4th of July 1776, say protesting is wrong.”
Before the votes, Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett criticized the three lawmakers and proposed having a seven-minute video showing the lawmakers on the floor during the protest. The screening of the video was fought by Democrats, who questioned its relevance, provenance and the benefit of showing it.
The video showed Johnson, Jones and Pearson talking on the floor of the house, using a megaphone to amplify their voices. Some lawmakers rallied behind them, and protesters were heard in the background. Democrats questioned the video, because filming on the floor violates House rules, and Democratic Speaker Rep. John Ray Clemmons called it hypocritical that the person who made the video was not punished in the same way that Johnson, Jones and Pearson.
The expulsion votes attracted national attention, and Tennessee Republicans faced intense political criticism. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused lawmakers of focusing on scolding Democrats and “shrugging off another tragic school shooting while our children continue to pay the price “.
There were three children and three teachers killed in a school shooting at Covenant Private School in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter was armed with multiple weapons and was killed by police minutes after the attack was reported.
“What did the Republican lawmakers do? They are trying to expel these three Democratic lawmakers who have joined the protest,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.
Several votes were taken before the vote to expel the lawmakers. Those votes were on bills including HB322, to toughen closed-door schools and drills, which passed 95-4, with the “Tennessee Three” and one other Democrat voting against. House Bill 1051, which would expand mental health benefits statewide, passed with 97 votes in favor and no nays. The House also passed bills to increase school security and also voted on an amendment that would implement a mobile panic alert system that would allow first responders to communicate in real time.
Pearson contested the bills, saying they did not go far enough.
“You’re saying kids are going to go to school and these resource officers are going to have AR-15s on them?” asked Pearson. “That’s part of what I think is a symptomatic problem of not addressing the root causes. The root cause that each of us needs to address is this epidemic of gun violence because of the proliferation of guns.”
Bo Mitchell, another Democrat, compared the bills to using “pain medication to treat cancer,” noting that America is an outlier in school shootings and “mass murders.” . As he spoke, shouts were heard from outside the chamber.
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Kerry Breen
