Tennessee House Republicans voted Thursday to expel Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) from the legislature after they led an anti-gun protest on the House floor last week.
A resolution to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) failed by a single vote, with a 65-30 tally.
Their protest followed the Covenant School shooting in Nashville last week that left three children and three staff members dead and triggered protests by students and parents at the Capitol.
Legislative bodies from the members’ home counties can appoint someone to fill the seats, and special elections will likely be held later this year. Jones and Pearson would be eligible either for appointment or election. Some Metro councilmembers have already said they would appoint Jones to the new vacancy, and almost immediately after Jones' expulsion Vice Mayor Jim Shulman called a Monday special meeting to begin the process of filling the seat.
Expulsion is rare in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Rep. Jeremy Durham was kicked out of the House in 2016 following a series of sexual harassment allegations. In 1980, Rep. Robert Fisher was expelled for accepting a bribe. In 1866, six representatives were kicked out of the House for opposing civil rights for the formerly enslaved.
To begin the proceedings, Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) moved to suspend the rules to show video from the day of the protest. Democrats argued that they did not know whether the video was selectively edited or relevant. Republicans allowed for the video, featuring clips of the trio standing in the well leading anti-gun chants and later describing the events in a press conference. Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons of Nashville argued that the Republican members who took the video should be punished, as rules prohibit recording on the floor.
The measure to expel Jones was heard first.
In his defense, Jones thanked Republicans for showing the video “because it showed to the world the ridiculousness of the claims that the actions of those who went to the well merits expulsion.”
He pointed to the Tennessee Constitution, which reads, “Any member of either House of the General Assembly shall have liberty to dissent from and protest against, any act or resolve which he may think injurious to the public or to any individual.”
With throngs of protestors gathering outside the Capitol and in the House chamber, Johnson and Pearson welcomed supporters prior to the vote, encouraging them to remain silent throughout the proceedings to avoid being removed from the gallery.
House leaders suspended the rules to take up several school safety-related bills out of order at the top of the floor session, a move Jones called an “optical spectacle.”
“You ban books, you ban drag, kids are still in body bags,” the crowd chanted as legislative business was ongoing in the House.
Attendees chanted in support of the trio and called Republican leaders fascists as they moved into the chamber. With audience sections above the chamber full, additional supporters watched the proceedings on televisions in the lobby and on their phones. Their chants were audible from within the chamber.
The move has drawn national attention.
“The fact that this vote is happening is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “Across Tennessee and across America, our kids are paying the price for the actions of Republican lawmakers.”
Rep. Gloria Johnson meets Justin Jones after the vote to expel her failed
Jones was first elected to the House last year. Previously, he was a frequent presence in and around the Capitol as a protester and organizer. In 2019, he was banned from the Capitol after he was accused of throwing a cup at then-House Speaker Glen Casada during a chaotic protest over a bust honoring Confederate general and KKK founder Nathan Bedford Forrest. Jones said he filed a police report after an altercation with Rep. Justin Lafferty (R-Knoxville) following the House earlier this week agreeing to consider the expulsion efforts.
Johnson was represented by former Reps. John Mark Windle and Mike Stewart.
“Please come up and face the people and explain why you perpetrated fraud on this woman and the people of the state of Tennessee,” said Windle, arguing that the expulsion resolution made false claims about Johnson yelling and slamming the podium last week. The resolution also said she was displaying a sign, which Windle said was untrue. During questioning, Johnson denied slamming on the podium, yelling or using a bullhorn as detailed in the resolution.
“The author of this document wants to take falsehoods and subvert the will of 70,000 voters,” Windle said.
Added Stewart: “This is the ultimate dangerous precedent, and it puts every member’s seat at risk.”
Johnson was first elected to the House in 2012 but lost reelection after a single term. She returned to the legislature after winning another bid in 2018.
Johnson was one of the main lawmakers pushing for expulsion of former Rep. David Byrd, a Republican who apologized in a recorded conversation for sexually abusing a minor student when he was a basketball coach. Republicans killed that expulsion effort. Casada was forced to step down as speaker following a scandal involving racy texts sent between him and his chief of staff Cade Cothren; both were later arrested on fraud charges. Republicans did not push to remove Casada from the legislature.
“I may have broken a rule, but the words in this document are false, and I did what I was compelled to do based on speaking for the voters in my district who were begging me to bring this forward,” Johnson said.
Pearson was appointed earlier this year to fill the vacancy left by the death of longtime Rep. Barbara Cooper. He won a competitive Democratic primary in a special election for the seat.
“We committed no crime,” Pearson said. “We did nothing but come to this floor to say we need to listen to the voices of our constituents who are chanting to end gun violence.”
Pearson argued that he was never informed about the rules of the House, which were voted on before he came to the Capitol. He also said that Thursday’s hearings were “the first day that I’ve seen something that is even a semblance of democracy, even on a day when this democracy is being challenged.”
Asked why she survived the vote but Jones and Pearson did not, Johnson said, "it might have to do with the color of our skin."
This article was originally published in our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
