Tennessee’s House expels first of 3 Democrats for protest

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s GOP-dominated House on Thursday expelled the first of three Democratic members who were at risk of being thrown out of the Legislature for their role in a demonstration calling for gun control after the Nashville school shooting.

The vote Thursday to oust Rep. Justin Jones was an extraordinary move the chamber has used only a handful times since the Civil War.

The House was also considering ousting Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson. The vote comes a week after the trio chanted back and forth from the chamber floor with gun-control supporters who packed the gallery. The protest happened days after six people, including three children, were fatally shot at The Covenant School in Nashville.

House lawmakers voted 72-25 to remove Jones.

Thousands of people flocked to the Tennessee Capitol to support the three Democratic lawmakers, cheering and chanting outside the House chamber so loudly that the noise drowned out the proceedings.

The three Democrats held hands as they walked onto the House floor Thursday morning, and Pearson raised his fist to the crowd during the Pledge of Allegiance.

Offered a chance to defend himself before the vote, Jones said the GOP responded to the shooting with a different kind of attack.

“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” he said.

The calls for expulsion, which requires a two-thirds majority, stem from a protest held just days after six people, including three children, were fatally shot at The Covenant School in Nashville. Johnson, Jones and Pearson chanted back and forth from the chamber floor with gun-control supporters who packed the gallery.

Republican Rep. Gino Bulso said the three Democratic representatives “effectively conducted a mutiny.”

“The gentleman shows no remorse,” Bulso said, referring to Jones. “He does not even recognize that what he did was wrong. So not to expel him would simply invite him and his colleagues to engage in mutiny on the House floor.”

Even if they are expelled, the three lawmakers may not be gone for long. County commissions in their districts get to pick replacements to serve until a special election can be scheduled.

Any expelled lawmakers would be eligible for appointment back to their seats. They would also be eligible to run in the special election. And under the Tennessee Constitution, lawmakers cannot be expelled for the same offense twice.