NASHVILLE, Tennessee, (Reuters) – Republicans in control of the Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two Democratic representatives yesterday for breaking decorum during a gun control demonstration at the statehouse last week in the wake of the latest school shooting.
In an extraordinary measure, when lesser forms of discipline including censure were available, the Republican supermajority voted to remove Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, two young Black legislators.
The resolution to oust a third Democratic member who stood with them during the protest on the House floor, Gloria Johnson, a white woman, came up one vote short.
That protest came four days after a Nashville school shooting killed three 9-year-old children and three school staff members.
Republican Representatives Andrew Farmer, Gino Bulso, and Bud Hulsey had filed the three resolutions on Monday to expel their Democratic colleagues, saying they broke decorum by leading the demonstration in the well of the House floor.
The House voted 72-25 along party lines to remove Jones and 69-26 to remove Pearson. But Johnson was spared when the vote to expel her came up 65-30. The Republicans control the chamber 75-23 and needed 66 votes for expulsion.
