Tennesee Democratic state Representative Justin Jones was expelled from the legislature by a Republican-controlled House last month, along with fellow Democratic Representative Justin Pearson, after they and another Democratic lawmaker joined a protest against gun violence in the House.
The House GOP members had all kinds of excuses and rationales for why they voted to expel 2 Representatives who are young Black men and not the White older woman who also joined the protest, including that Representative Gloria Johnson didn't "participate to the extent that Jones and Pearson did."
Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton claimed that Jones and Pearson were expelled to set an example that disrupting House proceedings wouldn't be tolerated, and not for any racist reasons.
\u201c"We've had admitted child molesters on the floor," said @VoteGloriaJ. "We have had members that peed in each other's office chairs. We\u2019ve had someone who has illegally prescribed drugs to their cousin-mistress. And nothing ever happened to those folks.\u201d\u201d— Pith in the Wind (@Pith in the Wind) 1680614214
He told Fox News:
"In my house on the floor, since I'm speaker, we have rules, we have decorum, we have a process, we have procedures."
GOP lawmakers' insistence that their decisions weren't motivated by racism doesn't do anyting to change the optics of expelling two Black lawmakers and not expelling the White lawmaker who also participated in the "disruption."
\u201cThe only thing Tennessee Republicans accomplished with their unwarranted purge of two black legislators is a modern-day Little Rock.\u201d— Rachel Bitecofer \ud83d\udcc8\ud83d\udd2d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Rachel Bitecofer \ud83d\udcc8\ud83d\udd2d\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1681165719
Tennessee state law allows local legislative bodies to vote to fill vacancies in the state legislature, and one of those bodies has already voted to reinstate Representative Jones to his seat.
\u201cJustice.\u201d— Rep. Gloria Johnson (@Rep. Gloria Johnson) 1681168967
Jones was reinstated as an interim Representative by a unanimous vote of the Nashville Metropolitan Council.
He will hold the office pending a special election that will be held in the coming months, and has indicated that he intends to run in that special election.
\u201cHere\u2019s the moment @brotherjones_ walked back onto the house floor arm in arm with @VoteGloriaJ, fist raised \u270a\ud83c\udffe\u201d— The Tennessee Holler (@The Tennessee Holler) 1681167969
\u201cLook at all the racist @TNGOP sitting there prob pissed as hell seeing @brotherjones_ escorted back into the Tennessee House of Representatives by @VoteGloriaJ \ud83d\udd25\u201d— Wu Tang is for the Children (@Wu Tang is for the Children) 1681166987
It seems likely Representative Pearson will also be reinstated by a vote of the Shelby County Commission as early as Wednesday. Pearson has also said that he will run in the special election for his seat.
After he was sworn back into office yesterday, Representative Jones made it clear that he intends to keep fighting for gun control.
"The first thing I do when I walk into this building as a representative is to continue that call for commonsense gun legislation."
Jones told CNN he thinks Sexton should step down, calling him an "enemy of democracy."
"He is an enemy of democracy, and he doesn’t deserve to be in that office."
Representative Johnson agreed with Jones and added she thought Sexton was suppressing healthy discussion and debate in the House before the hearings that led to Jones' and Pearson's expulsion.
"Before the hearings, we had more healthy debate on bills than I think we’ve ever had in three or four years on the House floor, because people were watching."
Tennessee Democrats aren't the only ones calling for Sexton to resign, though.
\u201cNow that @brotherjones_ , @justinjpearson & @VoteGloriaJ have opened a window, allowing us a view into the anti-democratic lawlessness of the Tennessee House, stories are pouring out confirming that something is VERY wrong.\u201d— Sherrilyn Ifill (@Sherrilyn Ifill) 1681157422
A member of his own party thinks he should step down for how he handled things too.
Former Republican state Rep. Kent Calfee also voiced his disapproval of how Sexton handled the whole situation on Twitter.
\u201cPt 1: my fist tweet not as a State Rep & at the risk of being a Mon morning quarterback April 6 was a dark day 4 the State House of Representatives@CSexton25 was way over the line in the attempted expulsion of 3 members of the House now we are know as the raciest state in the US\u201d— Kent Calfee (@Kent Calfee) 1680887991
According to The Tennessee Lookout, Calfee also said:
"I’ll be 74 in May, there’s damage been done to this state that will not be repaired in my lifetime."
"Beats all I’ve ever seen."
"Kept Gloria and kicked out the two Black men."
It seems unlikely that Sexton will step down, but he could be put in an uncomfortable position if more members of his party start to speak out against how he handled Jones' and Pearson's expulsions.
