TN House GOP To Expel Democrat Terrorists Who Called For Saving Kids' Lives Without Permission

As bad as January 6, maybe worse, according to Republican speaker.

Two big things happened in Nashville, Tennessee, yesterday: At 10:13 in the morning, thousands of students across the city walked out of school as part of a March For Our Lives protest to demand gun law reforms; some protested at their schools, but many marched to the Tennessee Capitol too. 10: 13 a.m. marked the time when, a week before, the first 911 calls started coming from a Nashville private school where a shooter with two AR-15s and a pistol killed three nine-year-old children and three adults.

Outside the Capitol, students chanted "Thoughts and prayers are not enough!" 

 And they sang. They sang for their lives, and for the lives of the children and educators sacrificed on the altar of the Holy Second Amendment last week.

Here's Rachel Maddow's coverage from last night.

 youtu.be 

Students flooded into the Capitol (after politely going through security) and some filled the halls for a sit-in outside the offices of Republican Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton. Not that he's ever in a million years going to do anything to reduce the availability of guns just because unruly children asked not to be shot. We'll get back to him in a moment.

The students packed the House gallery, staying throughout the day and during the House session, until Sexton ordered the galleries cleared. The kids shouted "Fascists!" A Republican representative shoved Democratic Rep. Justin Jones and grabbed his phone; maybe Jones bumped him, or maybe the GOP guy was just an asshole, hard to tell.

“Tonight as Tennessee House Republicans push forward to schedule vote on our expulsion, Speaker Sexton orders the gallery cleared as crowd chants “fascists.” Media forced out at as well. Then, Rep. Lafferty (R-Knox) pushes me and grabs my phone. This is a sad day for Tennessee.”

— Rep. Justin Jones (@Rep. Justin Jones) 1680571848 

Now, if you watched the full Maddow clip, or read our headline or Rep. Jones's Twitter description, you know the other big story from the Tennessee Capitol yesterday: Republicans in the Tennessee House took the first steps to expel three Democrats from the Legislature because during an earlier student protest last Thursday, the three Democrats took the podium of the House to call for gun reform, in sympathy with students who were protesting in the House gallery.

But you see, the three Democrats, state Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson, hadn't been recognized , so when they joined the student protesters chanting for gun control, they were breaking the rules. Clearly, that had to be punished. A Republican-sponsored resolution calling for their expulsion formally declared that the three had engaged in "disorderly behavior” and “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.”

Oh dear. Not dishonor! The resolution also called for the expulsion to be expedited, so a vote will be held Thursday. Wouldn't want those three duly elected representatives of their districts running free to do more terrorisms.

Don't expect any swift action on guns, though, because that's a serious, complex issue and you wouldn't want lawmakers to act hastily.

Following the student protests Thursday, which were peaceful but loud, Republicans took to calling it an "insurrection," using the logic that January 6, 2021, was simply a peaceful protest that killed a few people and injured more than 100 Capitol Police officers. Oh, sure, the students in this case came through the front door and security check without breaking down any doors or windows, or assaulting any police, and without calling for anyone to be executed out on the front lawn, where there was also not an impromptu gallows. We haven't seen any indication that the kids or the three Democratic legislators were armed, either. But other than those and a few other tiny details, it was pretty much the same, as the liberals who report for the NashvilleTennessean  were forced to admit:  

No demonstrators broke into Capitol, no one was arrested or injured, and no property was damaged.

But legislative business in the House was brought to a halt when three elected Democratic representatives stood at the podium with a bullhorn to lead protestors in the galleries in calls for gun reform.

See? The parallels are eerie! So completely like January 6 that Speaker Sexton saw the similarities too. The Tennessean reports, with as much dark irony as a mainstream newspaper can possibly get away with outside an editorial,

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, compared Thursday's events as "at least equivalent, maybe worse" than the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which left a protestor dead, many police officers injured and millions of dollars of property damaged.

On a radio show, Sexton claimed, falsely, that “You had people outside the chamber who rushed the state troopers to try and get inside the chamber,” although Tennessee state police reported nothing of the sort happened.

Yesterday, Sexton clarified on Twitter that he didn't mean the kids, no not at all; the only comparison to January 6 he intended was to the three Democrats, who "rushed the well and ... who led a protest on the House floor with a bullhorn." We should point out that none of the three broke into other legislators' offices, smeared shit on the walls, forced an evacuation of the building, or caused any state legislators to text their loved ones one last time because they feared for their lives.

But just to demonstrate how indifferent Democratic leaders are to the insurrection and open violence that didn't happen, House Minority Leader Karen Camper praised the three for making "good trouble," shamefully invoking the late John Lewis, who never once got out of line in his life because he was a gentleman.

By Monday, the three Democrats' ID badges had been deactivated, and at last night's session, House Republican Caucus Chairman Jeremy Faison was already calling Rep. Jones the “former representative.” We just noticed that if you add the letter "l" to Jeremy's last name, it's Failson.

The Tennessean notes that before their inevitable expulsion in two days, the three Democrats will have a chance to defend their actions, but "expulsion is likely under the Republican supermajority in the House." That's how America works these days, after all. Lucky thing they probably won't face a firing squad! The AP points out that only two other members of the Tennessee House have been expelled since the Civil War.

Rep. Johnson took to Twitter yesterday to remind people that in 2019, the Republican-controlled House voted not to expel fellow Republican state Rep. David Byrd after three women accused him of sexually assaulting them in the 1980s when he was their high school basketball coach and they were underage students. A local TV station obtained secretly recorded audio of Byrd apologizing to one of the women and emphasizing what a long long time ago it was, and Jesus has forgiven his sins.

Johnson introduced a resolution calling for Byrd's expulsion when he refused to resign, but fellow Republicans let him stay; he was reelected in 2020 but decided not to run last year.

AP reporter Kimberlee Kruesi recalled yesterday that the plans to expel the three Democrats

reminded of the many Republican lawmakers who told me and other reporters in 2019 that they felt uncomfortable expelling Byrd because he had just been elected and they didn't want to go against the will of the voters

And now Johnson, Jones, and Pearson will be expelled for the far more serious crime of being rude to other lawmakers. If that isn't justice for all that troublemaking, then what is?

In conclusion, welcome to fascism, y'all. Better know your place, you.

[ AP / Nashville Tennessean / Tennessean / Photo:  Rep. Justin Jones on Twitter]

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