A Tennessee Republican lawmaker expelled two House Democrats and failed to expel another after joining protesters calling for stronger gun control in the wake of the school shooting.
Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were ousted Thursday, while state Rep. Gloria Johnson was able to retain her seat. Jones and Pearson are both Black. Johnson is white.
The impeachment hearing was in response to three Democrats who led protesters in chants on the House floor last week without being admitted to speak. Hundreds of protesters, many of them children, called for stronger gun control after a school shooting that left three children and three adults dead last month.
Seth Herald via Getty Images
It is the fourth time since the end of the Civil War that a member of the Tennessee House has expelled one of his elected colleagues.
In 1866, six members of parliament were impeached for trying to prevent the ratification of the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to former slaves.
In 1980, GOP Rep. Robert Fisher was kicked out of the state House after being convicted of taking a $1,000 bribe to kill a committee bill.
And in 2016, Republican state Rep. Jeremy Durham was voted out of the House after 22 women were accused of sexual misconduct.
In a historic case on Thursday, at least one lawmaker was expelled for chanting to stop gun violence. In the Republican-led resolution to expel the member, the protest was described as “disrespectful behavior” that “knowingly and intentionally” brought “disruption and disrespect to the House of Representatives.”
“We call for a ban on assault weapons, and you call for an attack on democracy.”
– Tennessee state representative Justin Jones (D)
House Republican Leader William Lamberth began the eviction process by giving each member facing eviction 20 minutes to speak. The member was also allowed to answer questions from the members of parliament during the hearing.
Jones, who represents a district in Nashville, was the first to speak and called the proceedings a “spectacle.”
“What we’re seeing now is just a spectacle. What we’re seeing now is a lynch mob gathered not to lynch me, but our democratic process,” Jones said.
Jones said he was standing up for his constituents when he participated in protests for gun control.
“I’m standing up for young people – many of them can’t vote, many of them don’t have the right to vote – but they’re all afraid of the continuing mass shootings that haunt our country and haunt this nation.”
George Walker IV / Associated Press
Jones said Republican lawmakers have put their “heads in the sand” and “refuse to listen to the voice of the people.”
“We called for a ban on offensive weapons, and you call for an attack on democracy,” Jones said.
Rep. Bob Freeman said before the vote that it would set “a very dangerous precedent.”
“There are 78,000 people that Jones represents,” Freeman said. “He was elected in a competitive primary. This is what the district wants to represent.”
Jones was expelled by a 75-26 vote.
After Jones was fired, Johnson, who represents a district in Knoxville, later defended his actions. In the question of the GOP state Rep. Gino Bulso, Johnson denied that he shouted during the protest.
“I believe the accusation is that I yelled, and I didn’t yell,” Johnson said. “We may be violating House rules by approaching the well, but many of these documents are fake.”
Bulso insisted to Johnson that he was singing with the protesters.
“What is my sin, sir?” Johnson asked. “You keep asking this question. I feel that I have passed and repeated. I came to the well, I stood with my friends, I fought for my constituents, in silence, without tables. [way].”
Johnson, a former teacher, said she spoke for the people in her district who are hurting from gun violence.
George Walker IV / Associated Press
“I do what I want them to do,” he said. “It’s not a secret, my people sent me here because they know I’m a fighter. I will fight for them.”
It took 66 votes to expel a member of the House, meaning the 65-30 vote ultimately wasn’t enough to oust Johnson.
During his own remarks, Pearson reminded lawmakers that the US was founded on protest.
George Walker IV / Associated Press
“You who celebrate the 4th of July 1776, pop fireworks and eat hot dogs – you say protest is wrong because you speak out of turn, because you speak for the marginalized, because you speak for children who will never speak again. … in a country built on people who speak out of turn,” he said.
State Democrat Rep. Jesse Chism addressed the room, saying he wanted to “speak for the humanity of everyone in the room” and he was listening to Pearson, 29, who has not been a member of the House for a long time.
Pearson is “a member who is just learning this body decency, a member who has proven himself to be hardworking, thoughtful, and articulate,” Chism said. “And even though this member is a bit different from most – I would say he is different from me – this is a member who deserves to be a part of this body.”
Pearson was expelled by a vote of 69-26.
After the expulsion, the crowd was heard chanting in the gallery: “Shame on you! Shame on you!”