GOP expels Democratic Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson from House over gun-control protest

Ten days after a shooter unloaded 152 rounds inside a Nashville school and killed six people, Tennessee House Republicans on Thursday expelled from the General Assembly two Democratic lawmakers for breaking House rules and mounting a gun-reform protest on the chamber's floor.

After hours of fiery debate, the House expelled Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, on a 72-25 vote, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, by 69-26, in a move that put the nation's eyes on Tennessee and its politics.

But the House failed by one vote to achieve the two-thirds majority needed to kick Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, out of the chamber. The effort to expel Johnson failed on a 65-30 vote, as chants "Gloria! Gloria!" rang out in the House chamber.

With the expulsions, Republicans removed two of the youngest Black lawmakers in the General Assembly, further reducing an already small minority caucus.

Still, Republican leadership have elevated the two lawmakers’ political profiles, possibly with little long-term gains for the chamber as Pearson and Jones could be reappointed to their seats within days or weeks. 

The historic, partisan expulsion process has roiled political tensions as the state continues to grapple with the deadliest school shooting in its history. The debate drew widespread attention beyond Tennessee with thousands of protesters objecting to the expulsion.

"What is happening here today is a farce of democracy," Jones said at the beginning of his 20-minute defense, after gazing up at a packed gallery holding signs in his defense. "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."

Lawmakers considered the fate of the three Democrats steps away from hundreds of protesters whose chants permeated the House doors, while more than 200 people stood in silence in the House galleries. Protesters continued to call on Republican lawmakers to pass gun reform and slammed the efforts to expel the lawmakers, who have been dubbed the "Tennessee three."

In his defense on Thursday, Jones took several pointed pauses while sipping water during his floor speeches, allowing the chants of "whose house, our house," to flow into the chamber from the crowd gathered outside. 

"Your extreme measure is an attempt to subvert the will of voters who democratically elected us as representatives to speak and to passionately fight for them," Jones said.

The expulsions for the two were effective immediately, leading Jones to gather his personal items from his desk. He later took a seat in the House gallery, now as a member of the public watching the legislative hearing below him.

“The erosion of democracy in the state legislature is what got us here," Pearson said. "It wasn’t walking up to the well, it wasn’t being disruptive to the status quo, it was the silencing of democracy and it’s wrong."

The entire House Democratic Caucus, along with Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis, gathered around Pearson as he gave his closing argument.

“We are still here, and we will never quit,” Pearson said as the gallery erupted in cheers.

As the vote concluded, spectators in the gallery yelled “shame on you” and “fascists!” and threw several crumpled protest signs onto the House floor.

Before the House voted on Johnson's fate, House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, argued there was not enough evidence to uphold the allegations in Johnson's expulsion resolution. Two attorneys, both former House members themselves, also argued on Johnson's behalf, saying while Johnson stood in support of her two freshman colleagues, she did not lead the chants with a bullhorn.

“I have to raise the voices of people in my district, and I did what I felt those folks wanted me to do,” Johnson said in her defense.

Six Republicans broke with their party to vote against Johnson's expulsion: Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, Rep. Charlie Baum, R-Murfreesboro, Rep. Rush Bricken, R-Tullahoma, Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, Rep. Lowell Russell, R-Vonore, and Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna. 

“I’ve spent most of my life dedicated to helping children,” Johnson, a former teacher, said in her closing remarks.

"I continue to hear no one having conversations about things that will prevent gun violence from coming to our doors."

Gasps rang out as the vote count was announced, before Johnson and Pearson drew each other into an emotional hug.

The expulsion proceedings threatened to strip more than 200,000 Tennesseans of their elected representation and mark just the fourth time since the end of the Civil War in which the House ousted sitting lawmakers. No House member has ever been removed from elected office for simply violating decorum rules...

-from The Tennessean