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tennessee house of representatives
'This Is the Authoritarianism We Are Fighting': Tennessee GOP Silences Justin Jones
"The Capitol is surrounded by troopers. This does not look like a democratic body."
Aug 29, 2023
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones decried the "authoritarianism" of House Republicans on Monday after they voted to silence him for the remainder of the day's floor session, using newly enacted chamber rules aimed at shutting down members who are deemed out of order.
The Tennessee House's GOP supermajority barred Jones (D-52)—a member of the so-called "Tennessee Three"—from speaking for the rest of Monday's special session after House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25) ruled that the Democratic lawmaker violated the new rules.
According to The Associated Press, "Jones had been criticizing legislation that would have allowed more law enforcement officers in schools and began listing other resources that the state should be providing."
"What our schools need are mental health professionals," Jones said. "We need funding for mental health, for counselors. We need to pay our teachers better. We don't need more police in our schools."
The GOP's vote to silence Jones sparked fury in the chamber, with Democrats arguing that Sexton is selectively wielding the new rules to target outspoken gun control proponents.
Republicans voted to expel Jones from the House in April after he took to the House floor with a bullhorn to demand action to curb gun violence. The Democrat was reinstated days later and easily won reelection earlier this month.
Jones' fellow Democrats walked off the floor with him following Monday's vote. The Tennessean reported that "Republican lawmakers attempted to get the House floor session back on track after the Democrats left, as members of the gallery above erupted in anger with yells of 'racists' and 'fascists.'"
"Chants only grew louder as state troopers began swarming the gallery to clear it," the newspaper continued. "Demonstrators stayed in their seats as troopers began asking them to leave, but slowly cleared out into the halls to continue chanting."
In a video posted to social media following the walkout, Jones said that "what's happening is not democratic, it is authoritarianism."
"The Capitol is surrounded by troopers," said Jones. "This does not look like a democratic body."
Earlier in the day, Jones announced plans to call for a no-confidence vote against Sexton, citing the Republican leader's alleged misuse of taxpayer funds and other abuses of authority.
Before he was silenced by the Republican supermajority, Jones had intended to introduce his proposal at the end of Monday's session, which marked the start of the second week of a special session aimed at responding to the deadly shooting at Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year.
"The House must perform its duty to hold the speaker to account and exercise an internal check on power," Jones wrote in a letter to his colleagues. "At a time of record low approval ratings for the Legislature, this is not just a vote of no confidence in the speaker but a vote to restore confidence in this body with the people of Tennessee."
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Justin Jones Pushes for No-Confidence Vote Against Tennessee's GOP House Speaker
"It is clear that the house speaker, Cameron Sexton, is determined to continue leading our state down the path to failure, humiliation, and authoritarianism."
Aug 28, 2023
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones announced Monday that he will be calling for a vote of no confidence against Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton, pointing to multiple allegations of misuse of taxpayer dollars and the Republican's repeated attempts to smear gun violence protesters.
"It is clear that the house speaker, Cameron Sexton, is determined to continue leading our state down the path to failure, humiliation, and authoritarianism," Jones (D-52) wrote in a letter to his Tennessee House colleagues as they prepared to resume a special session ostensibly aimed at generating a legislative response to the deadly shooting at Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year.
Following that shooting, Jones and two fellow Tennessee Democrats took to the House floor with a bullhorn and joined demonstrators in calling for action to curb gun violence.
The Republican-dominated House, with Sexton (R-25) leading the way, responded by voting to expel Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson (D-86). The two Democratic lawmakers were swiftly reinstated by county officials, and both handily won reelection earlier this month.
In his letter on Monday, Jones rattled off a number of accusations that have been leveled against Sexton, including his alleged use of taxpayer funds to "relocate an intern after the former Republican House vice chairman was found to be sexually harassing her."
Jones also cited Sexton's role in the "unprecedented retaliatory effort to expel three duly elected lawmakers, an unapologetic abuse of power debasing the office of the speaker."
"It is for these reasons that the House must perform its duty to hold the speaker to account and exercise an internal check on power," Jones wrote. "At a time of record low approval ratings for the Legislature, this is not just a vote of no confidence in the speaker but a vote to restore confidence in this body with the people of Tennessee."
The Tennessee Legislature's special session got off to a chaotic start last week, with one commentator describing the proceedings as "a conundrum of epic proportions." Both the Tennessee House and Senate have passed a number of bills thus far, but none come anywhere close to the kinds of gun law reform that Jones and other lawmakers and advocates are demanding.
The Tennessee House "has moved forward proposals without the Senate, including one to let people with carry permits bring guns to schools," The Associated Press reported.
Sexton and other House Republicans, meanwhile, have done their best to stifle dissent at the special session. As part of a new slate of rules, GOP lawmakers attempted to ban members of the public from bringing signs into committee rooms—though firearms were still allowed under the rules.
"One mother of children who attend Covenant was left in tears after a subcommittee chair ordered state troopers to clear the room after demonstrators held up small signs, a violation of new House rules," the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported Sunday.
Days after the rules were enacted, a Tennessee judge temporarily blocked the sign ban after the ACLU sued.
In an interview on Democracy Now! late last week, Jones compared Sexton to former President Donald Trump, saying that "it has been a very disturbing special session in which we have our own mini Trump, a man who violates constitutional rights, who tries to shut down dissent, who tried to overturn the election results in my district and Rep. Pearson's district by expelling us and ignoring the voices of our constituents."
"The Tennessee Capitol does not look like the People's House," said Jones. "There are cords, cordoned ropes, put around the rotunda so people cannot protest and exercise their First Amendment right fully. Half of the gallery has been shut down, is only open to lobbyists, and so people can only sit on one side and have to get there hours early."
"You can still bring a gun into committee," Jones added. "But you cannot bring in a small paper sign that says 'stop gun violence'—until the judge granted that temporary restraining order that the speaker is now challenging. And in his continued attempt to silence lawmakers, if we are ruled out of order, we can be silenced indefinitely on the House floor under the new House rules that were instituted by the Republican supermajority."
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Tennessee Judge Blocks Rule Barring Signs From Capitol After GOP Removes Gun Control Advocates
"Democracy depends on people's ability to express their opinions to their elected representatives on issues they care about, and this unreasonable rule stood in the way of people fully participating in the democratic process," said one ACLU official.
Aug 23, 2023
First Amendment defenders on Wednesday applauded a judge's ruling that temporarily blocked Tennessee Capitol rules approved by state House Republicans which earlier this week were used to remove gun control advocates from a subcommittee hearing.
The ruling was handed down by Davidson County Chancellor Anne Martin hours after the ACLU filed a lawsuit in response to the removal of three women—Allison Polidor, Maryam Abolfazli, and Erica Bowton—from a hearing held by the House Subcommittee on Civil Justice on Tuesday. The protesters silently held signs reading, "1 Kid > All the Guns" at the hearing on Tennessee's gun laws five months after a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, in which three children and three staff members were massacred.
The new disciplinary rules adopted by House Republicans on Monday barred members of the public from carrying signs in House galleries and committee meetings.
State Rep. Justin Jones (D-52), who was expelled from the House earlier this year for participating in a gun control protest after the shooting and won back his seat in August, noted that the rules banned signs in committee rooms—but allowed firearms.
"We applaud the court for taking swift action to protect the free speech rights of Tennesseans," Stella Yarbrough, legal director at the ACLU of Tennessee, said in response to Wednesday's ruling. "Democracy depends on people's ability to express their opinions to their elected representatives on issues they care about, and this unreasonable rule stood in the way of people fully participating in the democratic process."
Videos of the three protesters being forcibly removed from the hearing went viral Tuesday evening.
"You will have to drag me out," one of the women told the Republicans who control the committee.
Another member of the public attending the hearing yelled, "You all won't do this for people who bring guns to school," as state troopers removed the protesters.
Shortly after the three women were led out, Subcommittee Chair Lowell Russell (R-21) called on the troopers to remove all members of the public from the hearing room, saying they were being disruptive.
The Tennessean reported that "the crying of multiple Covenant School parents could be heard" among the crowd of Tennessee residents who were kicked out.
Nick Hansen, the father of two Covenant School students, noted on social media that the Tennessee state Constitution guarantees that "the doors of each House and of committees of the whole shall be kept open, unless when the business shall be such as ought to be kept secret."
After expelling the constituents from the hearing room, Republicans on the committee voted in favor of legislation to allow teachers and members of the public to carry guns in schools, provoking an uproar among the crowd assembled outside the hearing room.
"You should all be embarrassed," one women angrily told the lawmakers. "You do not represent us."
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Schumer and Warnock Lead Call for DOJ to Probe Expulsion of Tennessee Democrats
Senate Democrats are asking U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to "use all available legal authorities" to determine whether the U.S. Constitution or federal civil rights laws were violated and "take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation's legislative bodies."
Apr 12, 2023
U.S. Senate Democrats on Wednesday sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the recent expulsion of two Tennessee Democratic lawmakers to determine whether the widely condemned move was unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful.
Tennessee House Republicans have been roundly denounced since voting last Thursday to expel state Reps. Justin Jones (D-52) and Justin Pearson (D-86), with critics arguing that the removal of the Black progressive lawmakers—the state's first partisan expulsion since 1866—exemplifies the GOP's growing antagonism toward democracy.
A week before they were ousted and their combined 150,000 constituents were deprived of elected representation, Jones and Pearson had joined protesters in disrupting a floor session to demand gun control in the wake of last month's deadly school shooting in Nashville. State Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-13), who is white, also participated in the demonstration but was spared the same fate by one vote.
Wednesday's letter, the first formal effort by U.S. senators to respond to the expulsions, asks U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to "use all available legal authorities" to determine whether the U.S. Constitution or federal civil rights laws were violated and "take all steps necessary to uphold the democratic integrity of our nation's legislative bodies."
The letter, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), was co-signed by Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), and Brian Schatz (Hawaii).
As The Washington Post reported:
The senators argue that the removals may have violated Jones' and Pearson's First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly, the rights of citizens of Memphis and Nashville to be represented by the legislators of their choice, and rights the pair have under the 14th Amendment or civil rights statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race.
[...]
The letter cites the Supreme Court's unanimous 1966 ruling in Bond v. Floyd as a potential precedent to draw from in arguing that the expulsions in Tennessee were unlawful. In that case, the high court found that the Georgia House of Representatives' refusal to seat a Black lawmaker, Julian Bond, over his stance on the Vietnam War was unconstitutional.
In their letter, Senate Democrats praised Jones and Pearson for "courageously participating in nonviolent demonstrations" that "challenged procedural rules."
"We do not believe that breaking decorum is alone sufficient cause for employing the most draconian of consequences to duly elected lawmakers," the senators wrote. "This is undemocratic, un-American, and unacceptable, and the U.S. Department of Justice should investigate whether it was also unlawful or unconstitutional."
Laurence Tribe, a professor emeritus of law at Harvard University, told the Post that "there are some who would try to distinguish Georgia's exclusion of Bond for his speeches about the war outside the legislative chamber from Tennessee's repressive and vindictive expulsion of two duly elected members for their robust expressions of views in the well of the chamber in alleged violation of its rules of decorum."
"But to me, that is a distinction without a difference," added Tribe. The legal scholar is far from alone in opposing Tennesee Republicans' retaliatory act.
"We cannot allow states to cite minor procedural violations as pretextual excuses to remove democratically elected representatives."
A USA Today/Ipsos survey conducted Friday through Sunday found that three-fourths of U.S. adults—including 62% of Republicans—believe Americans, including lawmakers, have the right to peacefully protest in state houses.
Reporting on the poll Tuesday, USA Today noted that "a 51% majority call the expulsions an anti-democratic abuse of power, compared with 42% who view them as an appropriate way to discipline lawmakers."
Moreover, "in the wake of school shootings, two-thirds say state legislatures should enact stricter controls on gun purchases," the newspaper pointed out.
Stronger gun laws, after all, are precisely what Jones, Pearson, and Johnson, along with hundreds of concerned citizens, were calling for during the March 30 protest in the Tennessee State Capitol.
Alluding to the March 27 shooting at Nashville Covenant School that left three adults and three children dead, the Senate Democrats wrote Wednesday that this "tragedy shattered hearts across our country and galvanized Americans—particularly young Americans in Tennessee—to peacefully demand their legislators act."
"These deeply moving expressions of democratic participation follow America's long tradition of peaceful, nonviolent protest, perfected during the struggles and triumphs of the civil rights movement," the letter says.
"Silencing legislators on the basis of their views or their participation in protected speech or protest is antithetical to American democracy and values," the letter continues. "We cannot allow states to cite minor procedural violations as pretextual excuses to remove democratically elected representatives, especially when these expulsions may have been at least partially on the basis of race. Allowing such behavior sets a dangerous—and undemocratic—precedent."
"We are deeply concerned that without immediate action by the U.S. Department of Justice, anti-democratic actors will only be emboldened, and we will see more troubling and more frequent incidents meant to unravel our democratic fabric," the senators concluded. "Thank you for your work to protect our democracy."
Jones and Pearson were reappointed to the Tennessee Legislature by the Nashville Metropolitan Council and the Shelby County Board of Commissioners on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.
There are lingering fears, however, that the Tennessee GOP, which has defended and fundraised off the expulsions, could engage in further retaliation against Jones and Pearson. Attorneys for both men have warned the state's Republican lawmakers against doing so.
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Reappointed Justin Pearson Vows to Fight on Against Tennessee GOP That Expelled Him
"The message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel justice. You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight," the representative declared. "Let's get back to work."
Apr 12, 2023
This is a developing story… Please check back for possible updates...
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to reappoint Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson to represent District 86 in the Tennessee House of Representatives nearly a week after Republican lawmakers expelled him and Rep. Justin Jones over a protest demanding stricter gun laws.
Pearson's reinstatement—following a prayer by his father, a pastor—came after the Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously Monday night to reappoint Jones (D-52). While the GOP-controlled House expelled both young Black lawmakers, the resolution to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-13), who is white and also joined the protest, narrowly failed.
"Nashville thought they could silence democracy. But they didn't know the Shelby County Commission was filled with some courageous leaders," Pearson said in a speech after his reappointment, highlighting that the board's 7-0 vote came in spite of alleged threats to reduce state resources to the region. Six of the 13 board members were not present for the meeting, including the four Republicans.
Wednesday's vote shows that "we do not speak alone, we speak together; we fight together," Pearson declared.
"And so the message for all the people in Nashville who decided to expel us: You can't expel hope. You can't expel justice. You can't expel our voice. And you sure can't expel our fight," he added. "We look forward to continuing to fight, continuing to advocate, until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Let's get back to work."
Jones tweeted Wednesday that "the people of District 52 and 86 have representation again, but make no mistake—democracy is still in crisis in Tennessee."
Ahead of the vote to send him back to Nashville, Pearson—joined by Johnson and Jones—addressed a crowd at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, before marching to the Shelby County Commission meeting.
Pearson also wrote Wednesday in a New York Times opinion piece that "it's not just our individual voices that were sanctioned and silenced last Thursday. It was the voices of the nearly 135,000 Tennesseans we represented—many desperate for protection from the absence of many commonsense gun safety laws in our state."
Pearson noted that "since the Covenant School shooting, the Republican supermajority in the state House has done little but advance a bill that would allow teachers to carry guns in school and propose a $140 million budget increase to pay for the presence of armed guards in public schools, further militarizing them without adequate evidence that this makes schools safer."
"Besides expanding already expansive gun rights, Republican-led statehouses across the country are proposing and passing staggering numbers of bills that serve a fringe, white evangelical agenda that abrogates the rights and freedoms of the rest of us," he added, pointing to GOP attacks on trans children, the social safety net, abortion access, and voting rights.
"I was elected early this year by the people of Memphis and Millington to stand up for all of us against encroachments on our freedoms. I will continue to fight with and for our people, whether in or out of office," Pearson vowed. "We and the young protesters are the future of a new Tennessee. Those who seek to silence us will not have the final say."
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) along with Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) on Wednesday asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether the expulsions violated any constitutional rights of Jones, Pearson, or the Tennessee citizens they represent.
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'A Very Dark Day for Tennessee': House GOP Expels Democrats Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson
Jones warned just before the vote that expelling him "will signal to the nation that there is no democracy in this state" and "if it can happen here in Tennessee, it's coming to your state next."
Apr 06, 2023
Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday voted to expel Reps. Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, two of three Democrats who recently interrupted a floor session with chants for gun control in the wake of the deadly Covenant School shooting in Nashville.
"This is a historic day for Tennessee, but... it may mark a very dark day for Tennessee because it will signal to the nation that there is no democracy in this state," Jones (D-52) said just before he was officially ousted in a 72-25 vote by the Republican-controlled chamber. "It will signal to the nation that if it can happen here in Tennessee, it's coming to your state next—and that is why the nation is watching us, what we do here."
"What happened today in Tennessee is a disgrace. Overturning the will of voters because you disagree with the representatives they have elected is disenfranchisement plain and simple."
After ousting Jones, the Tennessee House GOP moved on to the resolution targeting Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-13), who is white. That vote was 65-30, falling short of the two-thirds majority required to expel her. Republicans then turned to the measure to force out Pearson (D-86).
In the vote against Pearson, who like Jones is Black, the result was 69-26 in favor of removal and his seat was taken.
Asked by reporters after her vote why she was spared expulsion while Jones was not, Johnson responded: "I'll answer your question; it might have to do with the color of our skin."
In the wake of Thursday's three expulsion votes, Stand Up America's executive director Christina Harvey said: "What happened today in Tennessee is a disgrace. Overturning the will of voters because you disagree with the representatives they have elected is disenfranchisement plain and simple."
"In a democracy," Harvey continued, "no leader should be removed from office for standing up for their constituents, especially in the wake of tragedy. This political stunt sets a dangerous precedent, leaving over 135,000 Tennessee residents, many of whom are Black, without any representation in the state House until new members are appointed or elected. The MAGA legislators who perpetrated this injustice are unworthy of calling themselves public servants."
During the proceedings, all three Democrats were given an initial 20 minutes to defend themselves against the Republican expulsion resolutions, which were followed by questions from other lawmakers and closing remarks.
"What we see today is a lynch mob assembled to not lynch me but our democratic process."
The room was "silent as Jones took the podium, but just outside the chamber doors, a crowd of protestors screamed cheers of support," The Tennessean reports. "As Jones spoke in his own defense, they began chanting: 'Go Justin go!'"
Protesters who gathered at the Tennessee State Capitol in support of Jones, Johnson, and Pearson could sometimes be heard throughout the proceedings.
Watch the proceedings:
"The world is watching Tennessee," Jones said on the floor, "because what is happening here today is a farce of democracy."
"What we see today is just a spectacle," he continued, noting that Republicans have already signaled their intention to expel them. "What we see today is a lynch mob assembled to not lynch me but our democratic process. But it will not stand."
Directly addressing the Republicans advocating expulsion, Jones declared that "we called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy. That is why the nation is watching you today."
"This is not about expelling us as individuals," he stressed, pointing to public demands for gun control. "This is your attempt to expel the voice of the people from the people's House, and it will not be successful."
The GOP effort the expel the trio has been condemned across Tennessee and the United States, with hundreds of legislators from other states, national rights leaders, and even the White House denouncing the campaign as undemocratic.
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Nearly 270 State Lawmakers Denounce 'Anti-Democratic' Expulsion Effort by Tennessee GOP
"There is nothing 'disorderly' about courageously standing in solidarity with the people we are elected to serve, in opposition to the gun lobby that continues to profiteer off of an epidemic they have fueled," reads a letter signed by 267 lawmakers.
Apr 06, 2023
Lawmakers from 35 states on Thursday signed a letter condemning the Tennessee Republican Party as it prepared to expel three Democratic representatives who joined a protest demanding gun control legislation in the State Capitol, with the letter accusing the state GOP of racist and "anti-democratic" conduct.
Tennessee Reps. Gloria Johnson (D-13), Justin Jones (D-52), and Justin Pearson (D-86) joined Nashville students and their supporters on Monday as they poured into the Capitol building, demanding that lawmakers ban weapons like the ones used in a mass shooting at a Christian school in the city last week, which killed three children and three adults, and pass other broadly popular gun control legislation.
Republicans have accused the three Democrats of bringing "disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives" by speaking without recognition during a protest on the chamber's floor last week, a technical violation of the House rules, and of taking part in an "insurrection."
"There is nothing 'disorderly' about courageously standing in solidarity with the people we are elected to serve, in opposition to the gun lobby that continues to profiteer off of an epidemic they have fueled," reads the letter. "The Tennessee State Capitol is the people's house, and Representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson exemplified leadership on the House floor this week by standing up for what's right. Any attempts to silence these elected leaders for exercising their constitutional right to protest are anti-democratic."
The Republicans passed three resolutions to hold votes on expelling the lawmakers on Monday, with each passing 72-23 on a party line vote. The vote on expulsion is expected to take place Thursday.
The letter, organized by the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), accused the GOP of exemplifying the "robust and racist connection between fighting against gun safety and dismantling our democracy." Pearson and Jones are Black, and the lawmakers pointed out that people of color are disproportionately impacted by gun violence in the United States.
"Let's be clear, the vote to expel Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson is just another anti-democratic effort to silence the American people for speaking out against the devastating consequences of gun violence," said Neha Patel, co-executive director of SiX. "Calling for gun safety within the people's house is an example of our democracy in action, expelling lawmakers for standing for what they believe in is not."
"Gun violence impacts all of us, especially the Black and brown communities many legislators in Tennessee represent," she added. "Ultimately, these kinds of actions present clear and present danger to our country and our democracy, and we must not allow it."
March for Our Lives, the national group that was formed in 2018 by survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting, announced it would hold a rally outside the State Capitol on Thursday in support of the Johnson, Jones, and Pearson.
"We will not be silenced or intimidated," said advocacy group Gen Z for Change, addressing state Republicans. "As elected officials, your power is derived from the people and we will make it painfully obvious when you decide to work against us."
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Bishop Barber Rebukes Tennessee GOP for Bid to Oust Democratic Lawmakers
"Let's be clear—Republican extremists in the Tennessee Legislature want to silence the voices of dead children."
Apr 05, 2023
Poor People's Campaign co-chair Bishop William J. Barber II on Wednesday stood in solidarity with three Democratic Tennessee state lawmakers facing a Republican-led expulsion effort over protesting for gun reform on the House floor after last week's Nashville elementary school massacre.
"Let's be clear—Republican extremists in the Tennessee Legislature want to silence the voices of dead children," Barber tweeted. "They are impeding three brave legislators, who articulate the concerns of millions, because they aim to keep families whose children were murdered unseen and unheard."
"The blood of murdered children cries out for us, and extremist Tennessee Republicans are content to ignore them."
Republican leadership in the Tennessee House of Representatives began the process of expelling state Reps. Justin Jones (D-52), Gloria Johnson (D-90), and Justin Pearson (D-86) on Monday. The Democrats used a bullhorn to lead chants supporting gun control legislation on the chamber floor while thousands of Nashville-area students rallied outside following the March 27 mass shooting at Covenant School that left three 9-year-old students, three staff members, and the shooter dead.
Noting that Jones, Johnson, and Pearson each represent more than 70,000 Tennesseans, Barber said the lawmakers are "standing on the principles of democracy, freedom of speech and debate, and the right to redress of grievances."
"Expelling them is an attempt to expel the voices of the people," he added.
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-25) compared the actions of lawmakers and protesters to the deadly January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, arguing that "if this is not what rises to the level of expulsion then tell me what does."
In an interview with WATE, Pearson retorted: "The thousands of children and adults who marched outside of the people's House are not insurrectionists. My walk, my colleagues' walk to the House floor, was in a peaceful and civil manner, and it was not an insurrection."
Speaking on CNN Wednesday morning, Jones called the effort to oust him and his colleagues "morally insane."
"It's very concerning and it represents a clear and present danger to democracy all across this nation that should trouble us all," Jones added.
Johnson told WKRN Tuesday that "we have had admitted child molesters on the floor, we have had members that have peed in each other's office chairs, we have someone who has illegally prescribed drugs to their cousin-mistress and nothing ever happened to those folks."
"It was really just about 20 seconds of us talking at the mic before it was cut and before recess was called," she added. "Never in a million years did we imagine that they would try to expel members in the body for speaking for their constituents when we had not been allowed to do that previously in the day."
The besieged lawmakers' plight has drawn the attention of national Democratic figures. In a Tuesday media briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued that "by doing what they're doing with these three Democratic legislators, they're shrugging in the face of yet another tragic school shooting while our kids continue to pay the price."
A two-thirds vote is required to expel a member of the Tennessee House, which is currently composed of 75 Republicans and 24 Democrats. The vote is slated for Thursday.
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