House Speaker Glen CasadaPhoto: Stephen Elliott
Protesters have lobbed a wrench into the business of the state House as they seek the removal of two men — one quick, one dead.
“Can we talk about legislation?” asked House Republican staffer Doug Kufner as GOP leadership answered questions from the media last week. “Let’s talk about legislation.”
The reporters did not heed his call. Instead, they pressed House Speaker Glen Casada and his deputies about their heated exchange just moments before with Nashville Democratic Reps. Bo Mitchell and Mike Stewart. Both had sought to recognize from the House floor protesters evicted earlier in the week from an education subcommittee hearing helmed by Rep. David Byrd, the Waynesboro Republican accused of having illicit sexual contact with his underage students decades ago. Casada cut Mitchell’s and Stewart’s microphones, citing new floor rules.
“We had a whole week full of legislation,” said House Majority Leader William Lamberth. “We have the State of the State on Monday. … Does anyone care about any of the bills that are moving through the legislative process?”
Before he could even finish the question, a reporter hurled another at Casada, this time about his Tennessean op-ed from days earlier. The piece criticized those who questioned his sincerity on sexual abuse because he defended — and appointed to a leadership position — David Byrd.
“There must be order,” proclaimed Casada at one point, affecting dictatorial bravado. “The people’s business must be done. There’s individuals that want to disrupt that to bring attention to themselves. We won’t stand for that.”
And yet …
Minutes later, as reporters and lawmakers filed out of the House chamber, more protesters were there waiting. This group was calling for the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust prominently displayed just outside the House chamber. They chanted and crowded the path Casada needed to take from the chamber to an elevator. They called him and other lawmakers racists.
Casada made it to the elevator, but one of the activists, Vanderbilt divinity student Justin Jones, lobbed a paper cup into the open elevator. He was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and assault. A frequent presence at the Capitol, Jones has since been banned from the grounds and from contacting Casada. Another member of the group, Jeneisha Harris, was also arrested for disorderly conduct.
The two commingling protests — one directed at a slave trader and war criminal, the other at an alleged sexual predator put in charge of education policy — sucked up all the oxygen at the legislature, just as they had the week before.
In his State of the State address Monday night, Gov. Bill Lee announced a number of new policy proposals, including on education and criminal justice reform. But the gravitational pull of David Byrd and Nathan Bedford Forrest is unlikely to be overcome by the announcement of a few million dollars here and there for various initiatives. (Lee’s dive into education savings accounts could spark even more protests, as public-education advocates join anti-Byrd and anti-Forrest forces at the Capitol.)
The stalemate shows no signs of slackening, as the protesters don’t plan to go anywhere. When Byrd’s education administration subcommittee reconvenes Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., women will be there to call for his ouster.
“I’ll be in that committee next week sitting with those folks,” Rep. Mitchell said. “And I encourage as many citizens of this state to please come down here to all of our committees and our hearings and our pre-meetings.”
Casada could again order state troopers to quell disorder in Byrd’s committee. But that is unlikely to do anything but stoke the fire beneath the protesters.
“It’s not going away,” said Rep. G.A. Hardaway, a Memphis Democrat and chair of the black caucus who has served as an intermediary between the Forrest protesters and Casada. “The disruption is there for a reason, and until the cause is eliminated, those women will be there. They will be back, and hopefully they will be joined by other women and men of like mind to protest something that’s just wrong. If I wan’t legislating, I would be sitting with those women.”
Casada and Republicans in power want to get back to business. They will continue to push legislation that bans abortions after about six weeks, that limits Nashville’s new police oversight board, and that seeks to change the state’s Medicaid and criminal justice systems. Some of those bills will succeed, and some will draw their own protests. But in the meantime, David Byrd and Nathan Bedford Forrest will drive the House narrative. State troopers will continue to guard the bust, Byrd’s committee and the offices of Byrd and Casada.
“I think they could be doing something better for the citizens of this state than taking the time out to guard a bust,” Mitchell said.
