BREAKING: TN Reps. Jones and Pearson EXPELLED From House for Fighting for Gun Control Following Nashville Mass School Shooting
GOP Reps acted condescendingly in a sickening and shocking display
Despite the state still reeling from a very recent Nashville mass school shooting that took the lives of three children and three adults, Tennessee lawmakers held votes today to decide whether to expel the #TennesseeThree – Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson – who the GOP says broke protocol in approaching the “well” in the Capitol and speaking on behalf of their constituents about needed gun control measures when it wasn’t “their turn.” In the end, Rep. Johnson was narrowly allowed to stay, but Jones and Pearson, two young Black men, were expelled.
Immediately after “breaking protocol” last week, the three were stripped of committee assignments and had their building credentials deactivated. Today’s expulsion votes were unprecedented, happening only four times since the Civil War, and in those cases, were not for simple protocol breaks.
The community appears to strongly be on the side of the #TennesseeThree, having shown up en masse to the Tennessee Capitol at 8 am local time to show their support in and out of the building. This was not the outcome any of them hoped for. Why spend time on simple rule-breaking when children’s lives are at stake?
This didn’t matter to the GOP in the Tennessee House. Rep. Jones was expelled by a vote of 72 to 25. Rep. Pearson was expelled by a vote of 69 to 26. Rep. Johnson, who has been through a school shooting herself, was not expelled after a vote of 65 to 30 – safe by just one vote.
Democratic representatives made impassioned points on the debate floor in favor of the Three, including Rep. Jason Powell, who said, “I was in a 3rd-grade class the day of the shooting, reading down the street from the school to my son's class...when [the Covenent] shooting occurred...Monday night after this resolution [to expel the #TennesseeThree] was introduced [I went] to my son's Little League field to see red ribbons surrounding the outfield in memory of [9-year-old] William Kinney, who was murdered. And I am *outraged* and we should *all* be outraged. We need to do something and expelling @brotherjones_is not the answer." VIDEO CLIP HERE
The Three each mentioned how they’ve been mistreated in the House, even before this event, noting that they are not listened to and that the rules are unclear. Rep. Johnson said of her time as a representative,
"My voice has been silenced as long as I've been here, raising my hands for 45 minutes on the floor and not being called on. I was actually told by the speaker that was in retaliation for some other thing he thought was incorrect that I did when I was the lone vote against a Republican speaker I was moved to a closet-sized office and had to stay there for a year. It was during COVID. There was no room to social distance. I couldn't have someone in my office - couldn't close the door, and had no work table for the people who came up from my district. You're not silencing my voice. You're silencing the voice of 70,000 Tennesseans that sent me here that care deeply about gun violence and Medicaid expansion, and public schools, and we are continually silenced on the floor on those issues and more .” VIDEO CLIP HERE
Additionally, the Three repeatedly referenced the cameras and media in the room as a reason they are actually being heard today. Rep. Jones put it this way,
“Today, everyone was allowed to speak because *the news* is here today.” That did not happen the other day, says
“You would have us bow down! We shall not bow!” #TennesseeThree
Rep. Gloria Johnson (who, again, was not expelled by just one vote) has herself been through a school shooting, as mentioned at the top. She gave an impassioned speech about why she is fighting for gun control, saying,
"I'm just going to bet none of you have been in a classroom waiting for your class to come in...when you see a door open up at the cafeteria and children running down the hill...screaming, crying in terror. Kids I didn't even know also ran into my classroom. Because that's who I was. People in the school who I didn't have in class came to me for comfort. And I stood there trying to figure out what happened because I couldn't even articulate it...and found out that one of our students was shot and killed in the cafeteria while everyone was there, including the police, including the principals, including our other security. And I spent that day comforting those children, waiting for their parents to come and pick them up. And when my kids all got picked up, I went up to the circle and stood there - I don't even remember how many hours that day until we connected every child with every parent. And you're just in shock. You're moving in shock from the trauma on those faces you will never ever forget. I don't want to forget it. And if I'm not allowed to speak about that issue, that is why I walked up to this well to stand with my other colleagues who were tired of having their voices cut off when we are trying to speak about violence in our classrooms, violence in our churches, violence in our restaurants, and our grocery stores. I have to raise the voice of the people in my district. And I did what I felt those folks wanted me to do." VIDEO CLIP HERE
A particularly stomach-turning part of the day happened when GOP Rep. Andrew Farmer took the floor. Extremely condescendingly, Farmer said to Rep. Pearson,
"As I'm listening, I'm thinking to myself, you don't understand. You don't truly understand why I authored that resolution. It wasn't an easy thing for me to do. But I'm hearing you blame this on your youth, but just because you don't get your way and you grab a couple friends doesn't mean you can come to the well while we're conducting business in session. Other members are waiting to have their bills to be heard....they have constituents too... Just because you don't get your way, you can't come to the well, bring your friends, and throw a temper tantrum with an adolescent bullhorn. It doesn't give you the right to enrage folks that are here to watch this body conduct business and talk about things. You know good and well that we've worked hard - we've worked very hard to protect our children here in the state of Tennessee. Very hard. You know what and what you could do? You could maybe could file a piece of legislation that maybe you'd do that until it's setting back and criticizing folks. That's worked really hard for the past decade to do so. That might be a place to start But certainly don't start by a commandeer in the well while we're conducting business here in this Tennessee General Assembly that's why you're standing there. Because of that temper tantrum that day. For that yearning to have attention. That's what you wanted. But you're getting it now, so I just advise you, if you want to conduct business in this house, file a Bill, be recognized, stand there and present it and pass it All you gotta do is pass the bill.” VIDEO CLIP HERE
The now-expelled Rep. Pearson responded in a composed but impassioned manner, saying:
"You all heard that. How many of you would want to be spoken to that way? How many of you want to be spoken to that way? We're not talking about politics. We're not talking about even getting violent. How many of you would want to be spoken to that way? The reason that I believe the sponsor of this resolution spoke that way is because he's comfortable doing it. Because there's a decorum that allows it. There's a decorum that allows you to belittle people. We didn't belittle nobody. What we said was that we cannot be beholden to gun lobbyists. To the NRA. We can't be beholden to organizations that don't want to see us make progress on gun violence. We can't be beholden to folks who don't want to see us help save our communities and protect them. But there's something else I think, that the sponsor of this resolution has alluded to, and there were a few things here that you said that I want to address. He called a peaceful protest a temper tantrum. Is what's happening outside these doors by Tennesseans who want to see change a temper tantrum? Is Sarah, whose son Noah was at the Covenant School, he survived, he's 5 years old, and she showed up here demanding that we do something about gun violence Is that a temper tantrum? Is elevating our voices for justice or change a temper tantrum? But there's something in the decorum of this body that makes it okay to say that. Folks who are exercising the First Amendment rights to speak up for the hundreds of thousands of people collectively that we represent There's something in the decorum of this body that says it's okay to call that a temper tantrum to call people we disagree with on the issues. To say that all they want is attention But I'll tell you what. I don't personally want attention. What I want is attention on the issue of gun violence. But instead, we're here with the resolution you put up talking about expelling me for advocating for ending gun violence in the state of Tennessee. I'd much rather be talking with you about legislation to protect Shelby County and to protect our communities than talking about why we don't deserve to have our representation lost because we came to the well of this house saying we've got to do something. That's what I would like to be doing. And so you brought attention or tried to bring attention to me, but I want to turn the attention to the people. The people who will never be able to throw a temper tantrum for gun violence You know the Larry Thorns, the Katherine Koonce, the Mike Hills, the Cynthia Peaks, the Evelyn Dieckhaus, the Hallie Scruggs, the William Kinneys who will never have a chance to throw what you call a temper tantrum for justice for gun reform for the ending of gun violence. They'll never have a chance because we haven't taken our oath seriously because we don't take people who we disagree with seriously. We tell them you just are throwing a temper tantrum." VIDEO CLIP HERE
Right before he was expelled, Pearson, maybe sensing what was about to happen, preached,
"All glory and honor to god who makes all things possible. Who takes the son of teen aged parents, Kimberly Owens Pearson and Jason C Pearson and brings them to an institution built by enslaved people's hands. All glory and honor to god who brings those who have been marginalized and excluded into this place and tells them that you still have a voice. That you still are somebody. That the movement for love and justice cannot be stopped. Because we've still got a heartbeat. Because we've still got a movement for love that needs. We've still got people who are calling on us to act and to do something. To all you who still believe that the best days for democracy are ahead. For all of you who still believe that our better days in Tennessee are ahead, I want to tell you that I still believe with you. And how is it that even now with this Persecution on this Holy Week after my own. How is it that you still have hope? Well it's because even from the bottom of slave ships, my people didn't quit. Even in cotton fields and told they had no name, my people didn't quit Even when they incarcerated us, locked us up for a crack cocaine epidemic created by President Ronald Reagan, a fond of war in South America, my people didn't quit. Even when they defunded our schools, separated us, and called us colored and white. Even when they put us on lynching trees in the state of Tennessee, specifically in Shelby County, my people didn't quit. Even now as our own brothers and sisters are laid to rest because of the failure of people in positions of power to do something because people are refusing to pass just laws to end the epidemic of Gun Violence in the state of Tennessee my people have yet to quit. And so even now, amidst this boat, amidst this persecution, I remember the good news. Hallelujah Jesus. I remember that on Friday the government decided that my Savior Jesus, a man that was innocent of all crimes except fighting for the poor, fighting for the marginalized, fighting for the LGBTQ community fighting for those who are single mothers, fighting for those who are ostracized, fighting for those pushed to the periphery, my savior, my Black Jesus, he was lynched by the government on Friday and they thought that all hope had been lost. On the outside it rained and it thundered and everybody said everything was open, it was some Black women who stood at the cross. It was some Black women who watched what the government did to that boy named Jesus. They were witnesses as you have been witnesses to what is happening in the anti-democratic state of Tennessee. They were witnesses to what was going on. And I gotta tell you it got quiet on Saturday. Yes, I tell you, it was a sad day on Saturday. All hope seemed to be lost. Representatives were thrown out of the State House. Democracy seemed to be at its end. It seemed like the NRA and gun lobbyists might win. But oh, that was good news for us. I don't know how long this Saturday in the state of Tennessee might last. But oh, we have good news folks We've got good news, that Sunday always comes resurrection is a promise and it is a prophecy. It's a prophecy that came out of the cotton fields. It's a prophecy that came out of the lynching tree. It's a prophecy that still lives in each and every one of us in order to make the state of Tennessee the place that it ought to be And so I've still, because I know we are still here and we will never quit." VIDEO CLIP HERE
After Rep. Pearson was expelled and it was all over, The room erupted with chants and protests, "Shame on you! Shame on you!" Directed at the voting members. Some reportedly started a die-in protest on the floor. #TennesseeThree
What does this say about our country? A hell of a lot. Nashville Covenant School shooting victims Katherine Koonce, Mike Hill, Cynthia Peak, Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney deserved better - they deserved Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson fighting for them. It is a good thing Rep. Johnson was not expelled, though, by the skin of her teeth. She will keep fighting, I believe.
But, you have to notice something. Two, young, Black, powerfully-speaking and powerfully-feeling and powerfully-for-the-people men were expelled. The white woman, good person and Rep. as she may be, was not. This is Tennessee.
The GOP doesn’t care about “decorum” for reasons we all know. What they do care about is catering to the lobbyists and donors who want them to do nothing about gun violence. They don’t care about those dead babies and precious members of the community.
And so, scroll up and reference again what Rep. Pearson told us in his closing remarks. We all need to hear it, and we all need to keep fighting.
It's a prophecy that came out of the cotton fields. It's a prophecy that came out of the lynching tree. It's a prophecy that still lives in each and every one of us in order to make the state of Tennessee the place that it ought to be… know we are still here, and we will never quit."
~
Jenn
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