Byrd Protesters at the Capitol in March
As the 111th session of the Tennessee General Assembly prepares to adjourn, State Rep. David Byrd remains a fixture at the state Capitol — and so do several protesters who want him gone.
Though bereft of his chairmanship of the Educational Administration subcommittee (an honorific lifted from his shoulders last month by House Speaker Glen Casada, who acted under pressure), the Republican state representative from Waynesboro is still a member of the legislature in good standing.
This is despite the fact that Byrd has been accused of sexually abusing high school students from his days as a Waynesboro basketball coach. That’s the reason for the protesters — a group including Christi Rice, who says Byrd sexually assaulted her while she was a student in Waynesboro. The group began demanding Byrd’s expulsion last year and redoubled their efforts this year when Speaker Casada made him a subcommittee chairman.
Protesters' efforts crested this week when they staged a sit-in at the Capitol office of Gov. Bill Lee, whom they want to issue a statement in favor of Byrd’s expulsion.
Not only did they not get an answer from (or an audience with) Lee — five of the protesters were arrested by state troopers on Wednesday night and were booked for trespassing, a charge they will have to answer to in a June court hearing.
The protesters had begun the sit-in on Monday and succeeded in remaining in the governor’s office through Monday night, provisioned with snacks and sleeping bags by supporters, including state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), who has made gender equity at the Capitol a major personal cause.
Emily Tseffos, like several other members of the protesting brigade, is a member of Enough Is Enough Tennessee, an ad hoc group determined to sustain its efforts until Byrd is no longer allowed to remain in the legislature. “We’re asking people from all over Tennessee to join us,” says Tseffos, who has been a part of the demonstrations from the beginning.
It was she who uttered the words, “David, why did you apologize?” when the group began appearing in the audience during Byrd’s subcommittee hearings earlier this year. Tefflos’ question referred to an admission of wrongdoing Byrd apparently made to one of his alleged victims, who recorded their conversation. Though Tseffos and the other protesters waited for a break in proceedings before saying anything out loud, they bore signs attacking Byrd as they sat, and troopers asked them to leave on that occasion.
They withdrew to a hallway, where they were interviewed by the Scene and other media, and returned to subcommittee meetings, with their signs, for the duration of Byrd’s abbreviated tenure as chairman. Casada's decision to remove Byrd from the chairmanship was, according to the Speaker, a response to the fact that he had become a “distraction.”
The group has also maintained a billboard on I-65, saying, in part, “Protect our children, Byrd must go.”
