Tennessee: Republicans throw two Democrats out of the House of Representatives

US state of Tennessee

Republicans throw two Democrats out of the House of Representatives

Two members of the Tennessee House of Representatives have been disfellowshipped for taking part in a demonstration in Parliament calling for tougher gun laws.

published7. April 2023, 06:15

Excluded: Justin Pearson (centre) and Justin Jones have previously demonstrated for stricter gun laws. (April 6, 2023)

Getty Images via AFP/Seth Herald

• Republicans in the Tennessee State House of Representatives expelled two Democrats.

• They had previously taken part in a demonstration calling for stricter gun laws.

• The two expelled MPs were both black, a third MP who was not expelled was white.

The Republican-led Tennessee House of Representatives has expelled two Democrats. Another member of parliament, who should also be excluded, only just survived the vote on Thursday. The three people’s representatives took part in a demonstration in parliament last week for stricter gun laws. Their behavior brought disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives, according to The Tennessean newspaper in resolutions tabled by Republicans calling for their exclusion. After the exclusion, citizens protested loudly in the parliament building.

According to a report by the New York Times, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Cameron Sexton, compared the three MPs to the attackers who stormed the Capitol in the US capital Washington on January 6. The two expelled MPs were both black, the third MP who was not expelled was white.

Biden shocked

US President Joe Biden described the process on Twitter on Thursday as shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the expelled lawmakers showed solidarity with children and families who were peacefully demonstrating for tougher gun laws. In Tennessee and across the US, children have paid the price for Republican lawmakers resisting passing such legislation, Jean-Pierre said.

Former US President Barack Obama called what happened in the Tennessee House of Representatives an example of “a broader erosion of decency and democratic norms.”

The protests, in which the lawmakers attended, came after three children and three adults were killed by an attacker at a Nashville elementary school in late March. According to police reports, the suspected shooter was shot dead by police officers after the attack. It was a 28-year-old woman who used to go to school herself, it said. She was armed with at least two assault rifles and one handgun.

(DPA/chk)