#Tennessee House expels Democratic lawmaker after gun violence protest

The Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday voted to expel a Democratic state lawmaker after he participated in a protest against gun violence. 

The lawmakers voted 72-25 to expel Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones (Nashville) and are set to consider also ousting Democratic Reps. Gloria Johnson (Knoxville) and Justin Pearson (Memphis) for their participation in the recent demonstrations.

Protesters descended on the Tennessee Capitol to protest gun violence in the wake of a mass shooting last month that left three 9-year-olds and three adults dead at a Catholic school in Nashville.

Jones, Johnson and Pearson last week led chants on the House floor during the protests, and the trio were stripped of their committee assignments earlier this week.

“To those who here will cast a vote for expulsion, I was fighting for your children, too, to live free from the terror of school shootings,” Jones said in a speech to defend himself just before the vote. He said it was a “very dark day for Tennessee, because it will signal to the nation that there is no democracy in this state.”

“If I’m expelled from here, I’ll be back out there with the people every week demanding that you act. If you expel me, I will continue to show up because this issue is too important,” Jones said. 

Demonstrators could be heard in the background of the floor debate.

Members of the Tennessee House have moved to expel elected colleagues just three other times since the Civil War era, according to the Tennessean.

The three lawmakers were seen in videos entering the chamber on Thursday with their arms interlocked and fists raised, surrounded by demonstrators. The gun safety advocacy group March for Our Lives and other groups tagged the trio of state lawmakers as “The Tennessee Three.” 

The White House on Thursday condemned the move to expel the three state lawmakers. “The fact that this vote is happening is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

A motion to adjourn after voting on Jones’s expulsion failed, and the body moved on to debate expelling Johnson.

The Associated Press reports that Jones, and any other lawmaker who is expelled, would be able to be appointed back into the seat in the interim before a special election, and could then run in the special election to regain their seat.

“My conduct on that day was what I felt compelled in my heart to do for my constituents,” Johnson said.