Under the direction of Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, Republican lawmakers Thursday voted to expel two freshmen Democratic Representatives, both Black men, while failing to pass a motion that would have expelled a white Democrat, a woman.
Republicans were angered after all three Democrats, Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, supported citizen protestors who entered the House gallery last week.
During what was effectively an impromptu trial, House Republicans made little attempt to hide what many saw as contempt and thinly-veiled racism.
Republican Rep. Andrew Farmer chastised and scolded Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson, telling him on the floor of the Tennessee House, “just because you don’t get your way, you can’t come to the well, bring your friends, and throw a temper tantrum with an adolescent bullhorn.”
Rep. Jones accused a Republican of essentially calling him an “uppity Negro,” and at one point defended his support of the protesters by observing that after the school mass shooting, “the most direct action this legislative body takes – or should I say my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are taking – is to expel us.”
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Speaker Sexton claimed the Democrats’ actions were “maybe even worse” than the January 6, 2021 insurrectionists, and effectively put them on trial for violating decorum. The official rules state the punishment for that violation is censure.
After he was expelled and the session ended, Pearson continued to call for lawmakers to act to stop gun violence.
Top Democratic elections attorney Marc Elias, after the expulsions, tweeted: “Two Black men were expelled. One white woman was not. DOJ must investigate and use its full powers to act.”