By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE (Associated Press)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In a rare act of political retaliation, Tennessee Republicans on Thursday expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state Legislature for his or her function in a protest that referred to as for extra gun management within the aftermath of a lethal faculty taking pictures in Nashville.
The banishment of Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson was a transfer the chamber has used solely a handful occasions because the Civil War. Most state legislatures possess the facility to expel members, however it’s typically reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of significant misconduct, not used as a weapon in opposition to political opponents.
The GOP supermajority within the House declined by a single vote to expel a 3rd Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson.
Johnson joined with Jones and Pearson final week as a whole lot of protesters packed the Capitol to name for passage of gun-control measures. While demonstrators stuffed galleries, the three Democrats approached the entrance of the House chamber with a bullhorn and took part in a chant.
The protest unfolded days after the taking pictures on the Covenant School, a personal Christian faculty the place six individuals have been killed, together with three kids.
“We are losing our democracy. This is not normal. This is not OK,” Pearson advised reporters as he waited to be taught whether or not he could be banished too. The three “broke a House rule because we’re fighting for kids who are dying from gun violence and people in our communities who want to see an end to the proliferation of weaponry in our communities.”
Johnson, a retired instructor, mentioned her concern about faculty shootings was private, recalling a day in 2008 when college students got here working towards her out of a cafeteria as a result of a pupil had simply been shot and killed there.
“The trauma on those faces, you will never, ever forget. I don’t want to forget it,” she mentioned.
Thousands of individuals flocked to the Capitol on Thursday to assist the Democrats, cheering and chanting exterior the House chamber so loudly that the noise drowned out the proceedings.
The trio held arms as they walked onto the House ground, and Pearson raised his fist to the group through the Pledge of Allegiance.
Offered an opportunity to defend himself earlier than the vote, Jones mentioned the GOP responded to the taking pictures with a special form of assault.
“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he mentioned.
If expelled, Jones vowed that he would proceed urgent for motion on weapons.
“I’ll be out there with the people every week, demanding that you act,” he mentioned.
Republican Rep. Gino Bulso mentioned the three Democratic representatives “effectively conducted a mutiny.”
“The gentleman shows no remorse,” Bulso mentioned, referring to Jones. “He does not even recognize that what he did was wrong. So not to expel him would simply invite him and his colleagues to engage in mutiny on the House floor.”
Even if they’re expelled, the three lawmakers will not be gone for lengthy. County commissions of their districts get to choose replacements to serve till a particular election might be scheduled.
Any expelled lawmakers could be eligible for appointment again to their seats. They would even be eligible to run within the particular election. And beneath the Tennessee Constitution, lawmakers can’t be expelled for a similar offense twice.
Republican Rep. Sabi Kumar suggested Jones, who’s Black, to be extra collegial and fewer targeted on race.
“You have a lot to offer, but offer it in a vein where people are accepting of your ideas,” Kumar mentioned.
Jones mentioned he didn’t intend to assimilate so as to be accepted. “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to make a change for my community,” he replied.
Outrage over the attainable expulsion underscored not solely the flexibility of the Republican supermajority to silence opponents, however its growing willingness to take action.
In Washington, President Joe Biden blasted the GOP’s priorities.
“Three kids and three officials gunned down in yet another mass shooting. And what are GOP officials focused on? Punishing lawmakers who joined thousands of peaceful protesters calling for action. It’s shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent,” Biden tweeted.
Many of the protesters traveled from Memphis and Knoxville, areas that Pearson and Johnson signify, and stood in a line that wrapped across the Capitol to get inside.
Protesters exterior the chamber held up indicators that mentioned, “School zones shouldn’t be war zones,” “Muskets didn’t fire 950 rounds per minute” with a photograph of George Washington, and “You can silence a gun … however not the voice of the individuals.“
Before the expulsion vote, House members debated greater than 20 payments, together with a college security proposal requiring private and non-private colleges to submit their constructing security plans to the state. The invoice didn’t tackle gun management, sparking criticism from some Democratic members that lawmakers have been solely addressing a symptom and never the reason for faculty shootings.
Past expulsion votes have taken place beneath distinctly completely different circumstances.
In 2019, lawmakers confronted strain to expel former Republican Rep. David Byrd after he confronted accusations of sexual misconduct relationship to when he was a highschool basketball coach three many years earlier. Republicans declined to take any motion, stating that he was reelected because the allegations surfaced. Byrd retired final yr.
Last yr, the state Senate expelled Democrat Katrina Robinson after she was convicted of utilizing about $3,400 in federal grant cash on marriage ceremony bills as a substitute of her nursing faculty.
Before that case, state lawmakers final ousted a House member in 2016 when the chamber voted 70-2 to take away Republican Rep. Jeremy Durham after an legal professional basic’s investigation detailed allegations of improper sexual contact with no less than 22 girls throughout his 4 years in workplace.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”