Tennessee House GOP expels 2 Democrats in retaliation over gun control protest. Here’s what we know, and what comes next

(CNN) Two Democrats in the Tennessee House of Representatives were expelled, and a third was exonerated by a Republican.

More than a week after the Nashville school shooting, protesters flocked to the state capitol on Thursday to denounce the expulsions of Rep. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson and to call for gun reform. .

House Republicans said they responded to the leadership of gun control protesters on the floor last week. I called for him to return to the Capitol.

Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white and survived Thursday’s ouster, condemned the vote to rule out Jones and Pearson, who are black, as racist. Johnson said the reasons were “pretty obvious.”

“I am a 60-year-old white woman and they are two young black men.

After a demonstration by three delegates last Thursday, Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said: called their action It claimed it was “unacceptable” and that it violated “several rules of courtesy and procedure on the House floor.”

Historically, the Tennessee House of Representatives has only ousted two other members since Reconstruction, and the move requires a two-thirds majority of all members.

Thursday’s ban has been criticized by Democratic politicians and civil liberties groups who say voters in Jones and Pearson districts have been disenfranchised. They say it’s a distraction from the real problem.

“Instead of tackling the problem of banning offensive weapons, my former colleagues in the Republican majority are attacking democracy,” Jones told CNN. It should scare you.”

In a statement Thursday, President Joe Biden called the ban “shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented” and criticized Republicans for not taking greater action on gun reform.

“Rather than discuss the merits of this issue, these Republican lawmakers chose to punish, silence, and expel duly elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.

Here’s what we know about the banishment and what happens next.

Circumstances leading to expulsion

Jones, Pearson and Johnson demonstrated in the House of Representatives last week after a shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville killed three nine-year-olds and three adults. Call for gun reform and lead chants with loudspeakers.

According to CNN affiliate WSMV, Jones said he and other lawmakers were blocked from speaking about gun violence in the House that week, and their microphones were cut off whenever the topic was raised.

On Monday, three resolutions were introduced calling for the expulsion of Jones, Pearson and Johnson. Three members had already been removed from commission duties after protests.

The resolution, introduced by Republicans Bud Halsey, Gino Barso, and Andrew Farmer, said they “willfully brought confusion and dishonor to the House.”

Tennessee Republican caucus chairman Jeremy Faison told CNN that the caucus didn’t think the issue needed to be considered by the ethics committee, and that Jones and Pearson have a “history” of sabotaging the proceedings. criticized.

“It’s impossible to move forward the way they did it in the committees and in the House,” Faison said. “We need peace there.”

Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Hendrell Remus called the move a “direct political attack” on the party.

“Their expulsion sets a dangerous new precedent for political retaliation,” the party statement said. “The day the majority can oust members of the opposition party for no good reason threatens the fabric of our state’s democracy and creates a reckless roadmap for Republican-controlled state legislatures across the country.”

Ahead of the vote, Pearson publicly shared a letter he sent to congressmen in which he said he was held accountable for “disobedience” in the House but defended his actions. bottom.

“My peaceful and civilized entry into the House of Representatives was not a rebellion,” Pearson said. I wanted to respond,” Pearson wrote. An image of the letter he shared on social media.

what happens next

Following their dismissal, photos and profiles of Pearson and Jones were pulled from the Tennessee Legislature’s website, and their districts were listed as vacant.

Tennessee law allows interim representatives to be appointed to fill the seats of expelled representatives until an election is held. It is said that there is

“I think these two young men may be back soon,” Johnson said Thursday.

Pearson said, “I hope to be re-elected to the state legislature by the Shelby County Commission. Many of them are upset about the anti-democratic behavior of this white supremacist-led state legislature. I know,” he said.

Addressing the post-expulsion crowd, Pearson and Jones insisted they continue to support gun control measures and urged protesters to continue showing up at the Capitol.

“They thought they won today, but they don’t understand what they started,” Jones said. “They started a movement that can’t be stopped.”

The former congressman also lashed out at Republicans for what they said was an attack on democracy.

“Democracy demands that it’s not just about rich white men in suits, it’s about rich white people in positions of power that perpetuate the status quo,” said Pearson.

Expulsion of state representatives is rare

The House has only ousted two state legislators in the last 157 years. The first was he was a lawmaker convicted of taking bribes while in office in 1980, and the most recent was in 2016 when another lawmaker was deposed over allegations of sexual harassment.

Democratic Rep. Joe Towns called the move the “nuclear option.”

“You never use a sledgehammer to kill a gnat,” Townes said. “Whether you agree or not, we shouldn’t go to the extreme of expelling members because they’re fighting for what so many of our citizens want.”

In a statement, Kathy Singbach, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Tennessee, called the move “a targeted ouster of two black lawmakers without due process.”

She continued, “It calls into question the discriminatory treatment of black legislators while continuing a shameful legacy of disenfranchising and silencing the voices of marginalized communities and the black legislators they elect. .

CNN’s Dakin Andone, Ryan Young, Amy Simonson, Arlette Saenz, Dianne Gallagher, Rebekah Riess, Sara Smart, Alta Spells, and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.