Republicans in Tennessee have made the move to expel a total of three Democratic state representatives from the House who joined protesters during their storming of the state capitol building that took place last week, leading a number of chants using a bullhorn and disrupting the floor session.
A series of expulsion resolutions have been filed against Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) due to the actions taken last Thursday in the wake of 400 people storming into the Tennessee state capitol building in Nashville. A final vote on whether or not to dismiss the Democrats will be carried out Thursday.
More video of the 3 disrespectful Dem Reps who may face expulsion over their actions this week in TN. Some details missed in the chaos: Their stunt forced Speaker @CSexton25 to go out of session, impeding the work of the legislature and they were dismissive to the Sgt. At Arms. pic.twitter.com/CiGDVksPiU
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) April 2, 2023
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) forcibly removed the three Democrats off of any committees they worked on and explained that additional repercussions would be coming. “Here in Tennessee on Thursday, we’re going hold these three individuals accountable,” he stated.
“Their actions deserved to be disciplined, and what they did was a breach of House rules, they need to be held accountable,” he stated. “What they did on the House floor I have not seen happen in Tennessee or heard about.”
As part of an extreme protest standing against gun rights on Thursday, the three democratic lawmakers went entirely unrecognized to the “well,” where lawmakers speak while on the House floor, and took out a bull horn and started chants which pulled in protesters.
Republican House Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) explained that the ordeal was unprecedented. “It’s never been that three state representatives attempted to incite a riot in the middle of the House floor. It’s dangerous, it’s inappropriate, and it silences the other 96 members,” he stated.
Sexton went on to say that the lawmakers actually wanted to get arrested and wanted the attention all on themselves, going on to add that such a disruption was “planned.”
This resolution against Jones, filed by Rep. Andrew Farmer (R-Sevierville), explained that he and the pair of other Democrats “knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.”
Similar resolutions were filed against both Johnson and Pearson by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) and Rep. Bud Hulsey (R-Kingsport) respectively.
“The basis for the resolutions is that they actually disrupted proceedings in the House,” explained Bulso, explaining that they went against the rules in the House. Bulso stated that Republicans would have the votes to expel the Democrat legislators.
“They were both inside and outside the chamber, agitating all those who showed up,” stated Bulso. “These three made a decision that they were going to go ahead and focus all the attention on themselves. They were agitating and inciting the crowds outside the chamber.”
