Three Democratic lawmakers in the Tennessee House of Representatives were stripped of their committee assignments and now face expulsion from the legislature after they joined protests against gun violence in the capitol.
Nashville’s local NPR station reported Monday that Tennessee House Republicans voted to strip state Reps. Justin Jones (Nashville), Justin J. Pearson (Memphis) and Gloria Johnson (Knoxville) of their committee seats, with potential expulsion coming later this week.
The trio had participated in gun reform demonstrations days after a shooter killed six people, including three children, at the Covenant School in Nashville. Both Jones and Johnson tweeted photos of the resolutions introduced Monday to expel the three from the legislature.
“Just handed this on the House floor, but they still have to vote. We’ll not be intimidated. THE PEOPLE are demanding we act to stop kids from being murdered in school,” Jones said in his tweet.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) said that the lawmakers’ actions were “unacceptable.” He had also previously threatened to bring disciplinary action against the lawmakers, according to the local NPR station.
“Their actions are and will always be unacceptable, and they break several rules of decorum and procedure on the House floor,” Sexton said in a tweet. “Their actions and beliefs that they could be arrested on the House floor were an effort, unfortunately, to make themselves the victims.”
“In effect, those actions took away the voices of the protestors, the focus on the six victims who lost their lives, and the families who lost their loved ones,” he added.
The Hill has reached out to Sexton and the three lawmakers for further comment.