In the latest bout of GOP insanity, Tennessee lawmakers from the increasingly unhinged conservative side of America’s political spectrum are seeking to oust their Democrat fellows over a protest.
In response to the latest in an exhaustingly, heartbreakingly long list of school shootings in this country, three Tennessee Democrats took to the floor to decry gun violence. Representatives Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Pearson of Memphis, and Justin Jones of Nashville led protest chants seeking gun reform last week, in hopes of finally making some progress in ending rampant gun violence in this country.
In response, Tennessee House Republicans are attempting to expel each of the three Democrats over claims of “disorderly behavior” and, infuriatingly, comparisons to an “insurrection.”
House leaders used the buzzword to describe their fellow members’ behavior, and quickly prompted an outcry. Near the conclusion of Monday night’s session, House Republicans introduced three expulsion resolutions seeking to remove Johnson, Pearson, and Jones from their positions.
The resolutions, in hopes of explaining away this decision, claim that the trio “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions,” according to The Tennessean.
Outrage erupted in the chamber upon the announcement of the first resolution, prompting cries of “fascist” from protesters and mass objections from democratic members. Despite this, Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton called for a vote, and the resolution passed with massive support from the Republican majority. Final votes, which could see all three members expelled by the end of the week, will occur on Thursday, but — while all three will be allowed to defend their actions — Democrats have little power to block their expulsions.
Video clips of the chaos that ensued, following the expulsion vote, quickly made their way to social media, where people shared further outrage at the decision. Jones shared a clip to his own Twitter page, where he additionally accused Rep. Justin Lafferty (R-Knox) of misconduct.
The precedent for this type of expulsion is almost non-existent. Sitting members of the House have been expelled before, with the most recent being in 2016 for sexual misconduct, but Jones and Johnson noted that a non-bipartisan expulsion of this kind is entirely “unprecedented.” None of the three members facing removal from their seats engaged in anything other than a noisy protest, mere days after young lives were lost in the Covenant School shooting, in an attempt to prevent more violence from overtaking our schools.
Lawmakers have been removed over actual, proven crimes before — wire fraud, bribery, and similarly daunting behavior — but for the crime of talking without permission, a new precedent may be set with Sexton’s decision. Johnson, Jones, and Pearson all aim to push back, and the House Democratic Caucus has made it clear it stands with them. In a statement about the incident, the Caucus stated that it has “unanimously, formally voted to oppose the baseless resolutions for expulsion and will zealously oppose them should they come up for a vote on the House floor.”
Gun violence has become the leading cause of death in American children, yet attempts to see some form of regulation placed on firearms results in the loss of political positions. The GOP has made its stance clear, and we’re firmly in the camp of “when someone tells you who they are, listen.”
And they have told us. They’ve had opportunity, time and again, to make changes that would save lives. Instead, they line their pockets with NRA donations and ignore the pleas of children, parents, and their constituents. They silence protesters, strip sympathetic leaders of their positions, and continue to profit off the blood on their hands.
