Two Democratic state lawmakers whom Republicans recently expelled from the Tennessee legislature for their parts in a gun violence protest said on Sunday that their GOP colleagues’ decision has “resurrected a movement led by young people to restore our democracy.”
On March 30, three state lawmakers — Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson — briefly participated in a large protest outside the state Capitol calling for gun control measures after a shooter killed three children and three adults at a school in Nashville.
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Just days later, the GOP supermajority in the Tennessee state House expelled Jones and Pearson, two young Black men who were recently elected to represent primarily Black districts in Nashville and Memphis. Johnson, a white woman, was spared the same fate by one vote.
The expulsions have garnered national attention, with many criticizing the move as anti-democratic and racist partisan interference in the electoral process. President Joe Biden blasted Tennessee Republicans on Friday, saying that the ouster of lawmakers “who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent.”
“I think the most resounding message we’re hearing from the White House, and across the world, and people across this nation is that this attack on democracy will not go on unchallenged,” Jones told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “That the Tennessee House Republicans’ attempt to crucify democracy has instead resurrected a movement led by young people to restore our democracy, to build a multiracial coalition.”
“We are in the midst of a third Reconstruction beginning here in Nashville,” he continued. “And I think what the message is, is that we will continue to resist, that this is not the end. That their decision to expel us is not the ultimate authority, but that the people will hold them accountable both at the county level, and in the special election, and going forward through our legal processes.”
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While the expulsions shook Tennessee and the country, Pearson said that he has always felt unwelcome in the state House, calling the work environment “toxic.”
“When you have people who make comments about hanging you on a tree, and hanging Black people on a tree as a form of capital punishment, when you wear a dashiki on the House floor and a member gets up and they talk about your dashiki, saying it’s unprofessional, they’re really sending signals that you don’t belong here,” Pearson told Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.”
“And that is what the underlying and undergirding comments and responses that we heard on the House floor, and the comments to myself and my brother, Representative Jones, was really about,” he added. “It’s about us not belonging in the institution because they are afraid of the changes that are happening in our society and the voices that are being elevated.”
Johnson, the only Democrat of the three to not get expelled, said earlier in the week that the state House changed many of its rules on expressing dissent after Jones and Pearson were elected.
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The Tennessee House has limited debate to what is technically five minutes, but according to Jones, Republicans have weaponized the rule to block out debate altogether.
Jones called state House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) an “autocrat” who “will not even call on you,” and said that his and Pearson’s voting machines were turned off when they went to support the protest.
“He runs the Capitol like it’s his private palace, so there is no democracy in Tennessee. Tennessee is the most undemocratic state in the nation. Even in committees, you’re silenced from talking about the issues,” Jones told Todd.
“When we tried to talk about the issue of mass shootings that plagued our community, we were silenced. And all they offered our community were moments of silence, in fact, and empty thoughts and prayers. And our community deserves more than that,” he continued. “But instead of responding to the grief and trauma of our community, the House Speaker Cameron Sexton once again silenced us.”
It is possible that the two legislators will get their jobs back, either through reappointment or by running in a special election. Both Jones and Pearson said they would run to get their seats back if the legislative bodies of their respective counties decline to reappoint them, but would also accept reappointment.
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