Two Tennessee lawmakers who were expelled last Thursday for participating in a gun reform protest are demanding retribution and immediate reinstatement.
Politics :
Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis were both expelled for protesting on behalf of gun control following the deadly Covenant School shooting on March 27. The Republican supermajority in the Tennessee House of Representatives disagreed with their stance on gun control and voted to kick them out of the State House effective immediately. Rep. Jones was expelled in a 72-25 vote, while Rep. Pearson was expelled in a 69-26 decision.
Historically, expulsion from office in Tennessee has been reserved for people who’ve taken bribes, committed sexual offenses, or for felons. However, the 2 Tennessee lawmakers, who are both Black, were ousted along with fellow Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson of Nashville, who is White, for a political disagreement. Interestingly, Rep. Johnson was allowed to return to her post while Reps. Jones and Pearson were not.
Now, the state-level controversy involving the 2 Black Tennessee lawmakers has received national attention and is being called a political farce, racially motivated, and unconstitutional.
“What is happening here today is a farce of democracy,” Mr. Jones said while demanding that he be allowed to return to the office voters duly elected him to hold. “What is happening here today is a situation in which the jury has already publicly announced the verdict. What we see today is just a spectacle. What we see today is a lynch mob assembled to not lynch me, but our democratic process.”
“We will not stop. We will not give up! We will continue working to build a nation that includes, not excludes, or unjustly expels. People power will always prevail,” Mr. Pearson said via Twitter.
Vice-President Kamala Harris met with the ejected Tennessee lawmakers and then gave an impassioned speech on their unprecedented expulsion during an appearance at Fisk University.
“They understood the importance, these three, of standing to say the people will not be silenced, to say that a democracy hears the cries, hears the pleas, who hears the demands of its people who say that children should be able to live and be safe and go to school and not be in fear,” Ms. Harris said. “We understand when we took an oath to represent the people who elected us that we speak on behalf of them. It wasn’t about the three of these leaders. It was about who they were representing. it’s about whose voices they were channeling. Understand that – and is that not what a democracy allows?” she added.
Former President Barack Obama called the exile of the Tennessee lawmakers “a sign of weakness” by the (White) Republican political majority.
“What happened in Tennessee is the latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms. Silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won’t lead to progress,” Mr. Obama tweeted. “This nation was built on peaceful protest. No elected official should lose their job simply for raising their voice – especially when they’re doing it on behalf of our children,” he added.
This nation was built on peaceful protest. No elected official should lose their job simply for raising their voice – especially when they’re doing it on behalf of our children.
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 7, 2023
President Biden also blasted the expulsion, calling it “shocking” and “undemocratic.”
However, one prominent Tennessee lawmaker is calling the expulsion unconstitutional.
“The political retribution is unconstitutional,” caucus chairman and Democratic Rep. Sam McKenzie said in the statement. “We fundamentally object to any effort to expel members for making their voices heard to end gun violence.”
The bad press this story is repeatedly receiving on the national level is not only bad news for the Tennessee Republican Party, but the entire GOP as well.
Expect a fast resolution sometime this week in order to silence the criticism and the growing storm.
OK WASSUP! discusses Politics:
Reinstatement demanded for Tennessee lawmakers.
I watched the expulsion play out in real time and the first thought that came to my mind was this..
Okay, so the Republican party really is H*ll bent on pouring gasoline all over itself and setting itself on 🔥 🔥!