The Tennessee House of Representatives voted Thursday to expel Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, who led a Friday protest for tighter gun control measures after a shooter opened fire on a Christian grade school the killer once attended.
“It’s morally insane that a week after a mass shooting took six lives in our community, House Republicans’ only response is to expel us for standing with our constituents to call for gun control,” Jones tweeted Tuesday, adding that the vote to oust elected officials is “a clear danger to democracy all across this nation.”
After his expulsion, Jones told supporters “this isn’t about me” and vowed to continue advocating for gun safety measures.
The vote on the third Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, fell just short of the two-thirds majority necessary to remove an elected House official. Jones and Pearson are both Black, while Johnson is white.
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said the three Democrats in question, including Jones — who shouted through a bullhorn during the demonstration — violated “several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor” during their demonstration. Republicans control the House in Tennessee.
Democrats believe legislators should be proactive in taking measures to keep guns out of the hands of school shooters, like Audrey Hale, who killed three 9-year-old students and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., added to Democrats’ frustration last week by saying gun control measures aren’t on the negotiating table as far as he’s concerned.
“We’re not gonna’ fix it,” Burchett told reporters the day after the massacre. “Criminals are gonna be criminals.”
Only twice since the Civil War era have Tennessee Representatives expelled one of their own, according to Reuters. One member of the State House was booted for soliciting a bribe in 1980 and another was kicked out following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
Demonstrators gathered in Nashville on Thursday to support Johnson, Pearson and Jones.
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