Tennessee Expels 2 Lawmakers

Republican lawmakers in the Southern U.S. state of Tennessee made the rare move of expelling two Democratic lawmakers Thursday from the state legislature because they participated in a protest last week at the State Capitol calling for more gun control, following the recent deadly school shooting in Nashville that killed three adults and three 9-year-old students.


A third lawmaker avoided the ouster by one vote.


“We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy,” Justin Jones, one of the ousted politicians said.


U.S. President Joe Biden posted on Twitter: “Three kids and three officials gunned down in yet another mass shooting. And what are GOP officials focused on? Punishing lawmakers who joined thousands of peaceful protesters calling for action. It's shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”  


The expelled lawmakers –  Jones and Justin Pearson - are African American men.  The third lawmaker - Gloria Johnson - is a white woman.  Republican leaders, however, have denied that race had anything to do with the expulsions. 


"You cannot ignore the racial dynamic of what happened today. Two young Black lawmakers get expelled and the one white woman does not. That's a statement in and of itself," Pearson said. 


Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press and Reuters.