Vice President Kamala Harris touched down in Nashville Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours after House Republicans in Tennessee voted to expel two Black Democratic state representatives who had supported the 7000 citizen protestors outraged the GOP lawmakers had refused to address gun violence one week earlier in the wake of a school mass shooting. A third Democrat, a white woman who stood with the two men, narrowly escaped expulsion.
VP Harris will meet with all three Democrats who were targeted by state Republicans, former Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, and Rep. Gloria Johnson. (Watch live, link below.)
Harris touched down at 4:00 PM local time, according to her press pool, and traveled to Fisk University to meet with Tennessee Democratic lawmakers, including the “Tennessee Three,” as well as community leaders.
“Also present was at-large Metro Council member Zulfat Suara, who is among the council members planning to reappoint Justin Jones to the House as early as Monday,” The Tennessean reports.
“What happened yesterday sent the wrong message to people around the world,” Suara said. “We need to make sure what they (expelled lawmakers) did is not in vain. We need to continue to demand gun reform.”
Harris is also expected to meet with “the young people who led protests at the Tennessee Capitol for gun reform,” and make a push for gun control.
“Six people, including three children, were killed last week in a school shooting in Nashville,” VP Harris said Friday morning. “How did Republican lawmakers in Tennessee respond? By expelling their colleagues who stood with Tennesseans and said enough is enough. This is undemocratic and dangerous.”
One former U.S. Attorney stated was an illegal act and a violation of their First Amendment rights. A top elections attorney repeatedly since the two Democrats were expelled has urged the Dept. of Justice to investigate and even “remedy” the situation.
The Vice President’s visit comes on the one-year anniversary of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which she celebrated earlier Friday on social media.
The Vice President’s surprise trip came after President Joe Biden released a statement denouncing the expulsion of the two Black Democrats.
The Washington Post’s Tyler Pager reports President Biden has also invited the Tennessee Three to the White House.
Watch Live on News Channel 5 (click on Breaking News Update) or watch live at WVLT here (click on red box that says “On Now: hARRIS”).