Two state legislators in Tennessee were expelled for protesting against guns

The state House of Representatives in TennesseeThe Republican majority expelled two Democratic legislators on Wednesday for having interrupted their activities last week to join protests calling for greater gun control.

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The Congress men Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both African-American, were expelled after two separate votes. A third vote to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson fell short of support.

It is the third time in the history of the state, since the XIX centurywhich expels members of the House of Representatives for allegedly violating the rules of the chamber.

The three politicians joined in a protest last week where hundreds of students and teachers filled the chamber to urge lawmakers to pass gun control laws following a school shooting that killed three children and three adults in Nashvillestate capital.

The Democratic legislators decided to join the chants of the protesters who were in the gallery and, according to national media, they shouted through a megaphone “Power to the people.”

For this reason, the Republicans of the House of Representatives presented this Monday a resolution to Johnson, Jones and pearsonpointing out that these three legislators “knowingly and intentionally caused disorder and dishonor” in the living room.

In a statement, the president of Joe Bidenreacted to the expulsion of lawmakers and described the vote as “shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented.”

“Instead of debating the issue these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence and expel the elected representatives of the people of Tennessee”stressed Biden and repeated to Congress your request to pass legislation restricting the arms sales.

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This Thursday, the protesters returned to the gates of the Tennessee House of Representatives to support Democrats facing this possible ouster.

Pearson thanked the protesters for boarding a bus at 3:00 a.m. to “be part of this process” and make sure that their voices “be heard”. That power, he assured, is key so that they can “keep raising community issues.”

According to a report from the state attorney general’s office, the tennessee parliament it has only twice expelled members of the Chamber.

the democrat legislator Maxwell Frosta staunch supporter of gun control and the first member of Generation Z to win a seat in federal Congress, called the vote a “extremist and undue response”: “We oppose these flagrant abuses of power”he wrote on Twitter.

During protests last week, Jones yelled “No action, no peace!” with a banner with the message “Protect children, not weapons”while Pearson spoke about gun violence through a megaphone.

The leader of the House of Representatives of Tennessee, cameron sextoncalled it an “insurrection” and asserted that the Democrats had committed “multiple violations“of the rules of the general Assembly.

pearson wrote a letter the same day to all legislators admitting that he had broken decorum, but added that “It was impossible to listen to the chants, the pleas and the cries of thousands of peaceful children outside our chambers and not do or say anything.”

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.