Tennessee statehouse expels Democrats for gun control protest

The Tennessee legislature ousted two Democratic politicians who led gun control protests.

In a rare move, the Republican-controlled House voted 72-25 to oust Justin Jones and fired Justin Pearson, 69-26.

However, a third Democrat, Gloria Johnson, also joined the protest, but the vote to oust her was unsuccessful.

Crowds of protesters have flooded the state capitol since the school shooting.

An attack at a Covenant school in Nashville on March 27 killed six people, including three children.

The so-called “Tennessee Three” chanted “No Action, No Peace” on the floor of the House during a March 30 protest that drew hundreds of demonstrators in support of gun control to the Capitol.

Jones, 27, and Pearson, 28, pounded the House podium with megaphones as they delivered provocative speeches and addressed protesters crowding around the floor’s public viewing platform. .

“We don’t want to be here, but we have no choice but to find ways to disrupt normal business, because normal business kills children,” Pearson said.

The Chamber of Commerce stalled for nearly an hour.

All three chanted “enough is enough” and “strength to the people”.

But she suggests the Republicans didn’t oust her because she’s white, while both Jones and Pearson are black.

Democratic President Joe Biden has called the ousting “shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented.”

Mr Jones told the BBC that the move has left 78,000 people in one of the state’s most diverse districts without delegates.

He said the “majority, almost entirely white, Republican caucuses” had expelled “the two youngest black congressmen because they demanded action against gun violence.”

The Tennessee House of Representatives is made up of 75 Republicans and 23 Democrats.

Legislators debated Thursday’s banishment for hours, but this is the first such action taken without the support of both parties in Tennessee’s modern history.

Johnson fell just one vote short of the two-thirds majority required to oust her, and House supporters cheered her on.

The three lawmakers admitted they had violated House rules by speaking without formal recognition, but argued that their actions did not justify their expulsion.

But Republicans said the trio had brought “chaos and dishonor to the House.”

Some Republican lawmakers said the Democrats’ actions amounted to rioting, and House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, compared the incident to a Capitol riot.

Another Republican congressman, Gino Bruso, said he “effectively rebelled.”

But Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson, or Justin as they are called by some analysts and politicians, said they would soon be expelled because their expulsion does not disqualify the former congressman from running for office. may return.

County governing bodies also have the authority to appoint interim representatives in the event of a vacancy. So, according to the Tennessian newspaper, the deposed lawmaker was appointed to fill the vacancy on an interim basis, after which he was able to run for re-election and return to the General Assembly within a few months.

Expulsion votes are extremely rare. In Tennessee, he’s the only time the House has voted to expel a member. In 1980, it removed an incumbent lawmaker convicted of soliciting bribes, and in 2016, it expelled the majority of lawmakers facing allegations of sexual misconduct.

However, these expulsions had strong support from both parties.

Before voting began on Thursday, lawmakers debated more than 20 bills, including one about school safety.

During the debate, Mr. Jones stood up and spoke several times, accusing his colleagues of passing “first aid” legislation in response to the mass shooting.

“It’s not behavior that makes our students safe,” he said. “As elected officials, we have a moral responsibility to be on the front lines of fear and to be here and listen to young people crying and begging for their lives.”

“Look at me. Look at the other 97 people,” said Republican Mark White, clearly annoyed. [lawmakers]This is exactly what we are trying to do. ”

Mr White continued:

Tennessee has some of the most relaxed gun control laws in the country. In 2021, the state passed a measure allowing her residents over the age of 21 to carry handguns (both concealed and unconcealed) without a permit.

Lawmakers and gun rights groups are working to lower that age to 18.

There is no system of universal background checks or “red flag” laws designed to allow authorities to temporarily seize legally owned guns.

Police said the shooter who opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville last week legally purchased seven firearms on separate occasions.

Three of the weapons were used to kill three nine-year-old children and three school workers.