March 28 protest
Thousands of protesters made their way to the state Capitol over the past few weeks following the Covenant School shooting and the subsequent expulsions of Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis). Representing a wide spectrum of ages, religions, races and political affiliations, protesters traveled from all over Tennessee and across state lines to attend demonstrations. They protested inside and outside the Capitol for hours on end, even as the House and Senate engaged in lengthy sessions, and the state’s Republican supermajority largely avoided consideration of gun-related legislation. Some demonstrators were removed from the chambers by the Tennessee Highway Patrol due to their protests.
These protests have been charged with a palpable energy — there has been grief and anger as well as love and connection as folks have become galvanized over the Covenant tragedy and expressed a collective desire for gun reform. Community members screamed, cried and sang together. On April 18, demonstrators linked arms to create a three-mile human chain extending from the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to Legislative Plaza downtown. Musicians including Margo Price, Brittany Spencer, Maggie Rose, Drew Holcomb, Ruby Amanfu and many more have performed at events and led crowds in songs as acts of peaceful protest. Stars including Sheryl Crow and Amy Grant, leading a coalition called Voices for a Safer Tennessee, signed onto a letter calling for “common sense” gun reform and met with Gov. Bill Lee and other state leaders to discuss gun violence.
“It’s been empowering to see the sustained movement, particularly being led by young people and impacted families,” says Jones, who was reinstated to his seat by the Metro Council less than 100 hours after his expulsion. “That’s what a movement is, and it’s really changing the political priorities in that building and really shifting the conversation.”
Despite the overwhelming turnouts and pleas from citizens — including parents of Covenant students — Republican lawmakers have refused to make the changes. “Any red flag law is a non-starter for House Republicans,” reads a statement issued by the House Republican Caucus. (So-called red flag laws are designed to temporarily remove firearms from someone perceived to be a danger to others or themselves.) This statement comes even as Gov. Lee pushed for “extreme risk” gun legislation — and after Republican Senate leadership pushed remaining gun-related bills to 2024. A statewide poll conducted by Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Center for Child Health Policy, which was released before the Covenant School shooting, shows that school gun violence is a top concern for parents, and a majority of respondents support stricter gun measures.
April 3 protest
“We had everything,” says Sarah Neumann, the mother of a Covenant student. “We had good security. We had locked doors, we had intense active shooter training. The teachers heard AR-15s shot in the school and had to practice locking down for that. They had everything. Our cops are heroes. They didn’t hesitate a second. It’s not enough. We don’t have banned assault weapons. Sure, we’re gonna add the bulletproof glass now, but what about when they’re on the playground?”
House Republicans have faced widespread criticism for their inaction on gun laws and their efforts to expel those who have become nationally recognized as the Tennessee Three — Jones, Pearson and Knoxville Rep. Gloria Johnson (who joined her fellow Democrats in their protests on the House floor March 30 but avoided expulsion by a single vote). Though House Republicans have largely remained stone-faced amid the protests — even as protesters in some cases called them fascists — the effects the demonstrations have had on lawmakers are apparent. A leaked audio recording revealed internal tension among House Republican Caucus members.
“This rush to get out to save face, I think, for them, is not going to work,” Johnson tells the Scene. “This issue is not going away, and we’re just going to build this movement until action is taken.”
The movement-building that Johnson mentions requires an immense amount of work and organization.
“You didn’t see all of that coordination behind the scenes,” says Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville). Oliver tweeted about some of that work and the players involved, among them District 29 Metro Councilmember Delishia Porterfield and At-Large Councilmember Zulfat Suara, who worked with Oliver for the swift reinstatement of Jones, as well as on other legislative matters. (Notably, Porterfield lost to Jones in the Democratic primary for the House District 52 seat last year, but in a show of goodwill, she nominated Jones back to the seat.)
April 6 protest following the expulsions of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson
“That’s what Black women do, we spring into action,” says Oliver. “We don’t ask questions, we already know. Our moral compass, as people in society who are constantly unprotected in America, we have this intuition that fuels us into action. And you don’t have to question where our allegiance lies. You don’t have to question our stances on something, because you’re going to see it in our actions. And a lot of those actions get taken for granted, because they are the things that keep the big things going. It’s making the phone calls, it’s creating a spreadsheet, it’s coordinating the protests, and making sure all the moving parts are moving. But what you’ve seen is what’s on camera, on national TV.”
Though gun control is the issue folks have rallied around the most during this year’s legislative session, the protests have created opportunities to advocate for other measures.
“The same people that block gun laws block health care,” Bishop William Barber II told a crowd on April 17 as part of a “Moral Monday” protest he led. “The same ones that block health care, block voting rights. And the same ones that block voting rights, they block living wages. And the same ones that block living wages, they block dealing with the environment. And if they are cynical enough to be together, we got to be smart enough to come together and stay together.”
