(Abdul–Rahman Oladimeji Bello, Headline USA) Three Democrat Tennessee lawmakers were pulled from committee assignments and now face potential expulsion from the state legislature after participating in a protest at the state capitol building.
House Republicans voted on Monday to strip state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson and Gloria Johnson of their committee assignments, WPLN reported.
The lawmakers had participated in the protest with anti-gun activists last week after a transgender-identifying woman opened fire inside a Christian elementary school in Nashville, killing six people.
Reacting to information about the possible expulsion from the legislature, Jones defiantly tweeted a photo of the resolution for expulsion and vowed to carry on in his activism.
“Just handed this on the House floor, but they still have to vote,” he wrote. “We’ll not be intimidated. THE PEOPLE are demanding we act to stop kids from being murdered in school.”
“A resolution to expel Justin Jones from his seat as a member of the House of Representatives…”
Just handed this on the House floor, but they still have to vote. We’ll not be intimidated. THE PEOPLE are demanding we act to stop kids from being murdered in school. #goodtrouble pic.twitter.com/SWvWA5tTPI
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) April 3, 2023
In a press conference on Monday, Jones also criticized House Speaker Cameron Sexton for condemning their actions, claiming the Republican leader has prioritized politics over addressing the carnage, Fox News reported.
“We are members, who are standing in the well, telling our speakers and our colleagues that kids should not be murdered in school,” Jones said. “And rather than address that issue, the speaker has spent more time on Twitter this weekend talking about a fake insurrection than he did about the deaths of six people including 9-year-old children.”
Sexton, on the other hand, said the lawmakers should never have participated in the protest.
“Their actions are and will always be unacceptable, and they break several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor,” he wrote on Twitter.
In effect, those actions took away the voices of the protestors, the focus on the six victims who lost their lives, and the families who lost their loved ones.
— Speaker Cameron Sexton (@CSexton25) April 3, 2023
He slammed the Democrat legislators for foisting themselves into the center of attention.
“Their actions and beliefs that they could be arrested on the House floor were an effort, unfortunately, to make themselves the victims,” Sexton added. “In effect, those actions took away the voices of the protestors, the focus on the six victims who lost their lives, and the families who lost their loved ones.”
