“Today, I stood with parents, students, and the Tennessee Three,” said Vice President Kamala Harris Friday, the day after two of the lawmakers were expelled from the state legislature over their calls for gun reform.
Members of the Tennessee legislature voted to expel Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson, both black men. Rep. Gloria Johnson – a white woman – was not expelled, although she stood with them to protest.
“They won’t be silenced and their demands for gun reform must be heard,” said Harris. “In Congress and in state legislatures around our nation, leaders must have the courage to act.”
Recent calls for gun reform in Tennessee were sparked by a school shooting in Nashville last week. It is one of several school shootings in recent years, including the Uvalde elementary school massacre last May.
Jones, Pearson and Johnson – all Democrats – were “amplifying the voices of their constituents in a peaceful, non-violent manner by chanting from the well of the House chamber along with people gathered in the balcony to protest gun policies three days after the March 27 Nashville school shooting that left six people dead, including three children,” according to the Tennessee branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.
According to the resolutions that expelled Jones and Pearson, all three elected officials “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions,” by chanting in the well. Rep. Gino Bulso, Rep. Bed Hulsey and Rep. Andrew Farmer, all Republicans, sponsored the resolutions.
“Over the course of this legislative session, the Tennessee General Assembly has systematically eroded the rights of some of the most vulnerable communities in our state,” said Kathy Sinback, ACLU-TN executive director. “These expelled lawmakers represent over 136,000 people – predominantly people of color – in districts across the state, and this expulsion strips these voters of their representation.”
Democrat Tennessee Rep. Sam McKenzie also noted that it was unfair to expel lawmakers who the people of Tennessee elected to represent them.
He warned that Republicans could move to replace them with members of their own party.
“What we’re doing today is just – it’s horrific,” he said.
While 17% of the Tennessee population is Black, per the U.S. Census Bureau the ACLU-TN said that only a small minority of legislators in the state are people of color.
“Not only is this targeted expulsion of two Black legislators without due process an extreme measure that undermines democracy, it raises questions about the disparate treatment of Black representatives, while continuing the shameful legacy of disenfranchising and silencing the voices of marginalized communities and the Black lawmakers they elect,” said Sinback.
She also said that the move is an authoritarian effort to silence opposition that sets a dangerous precedent for other states.
“We will continue to fight for a state where all Tennesseans have a voice and are treated justly and equitably,” she said. According to the White House, national efforts to reform gun laws moved forward Friday with a “legislative convening” aimed at holding gun manufacturers accountable.
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