(RepublicanDaily.org) – The Tennessee State Legislature voted to expel two of the three Democrats who staged an anti-gun protest in the Tennessee state legislature following the Nashville Covenant School shooting, The Tennessean reported. The three Democratic lawmakers had staged a protest and “stormed” the Capitol building demanding restrictive gun legislation.
Following the protest, the Tennessee state legislature deemed the Democrats’ participation “unacceptable” and motioned to remove the representatives from their committee assignments, Fox News reported on April 4. The House reportedly failed by one vote to achieve the two-thirds unanimous vote needed to expel Representative Gloria Johnson (D, Representative of Knoxville, TN).
Following the decision, Americans took to social media to debate gun rights and Second Amendment legislation.
Chaos erupted a second time in the Tennessee Capitol as lawmakers reached their decision, Fox News reported on April 6. Armed policemen were seen standing guard, as Fox News captured footage of crowds of protesters chanting “end gun violence” at the scene of the Tennessee legislature vote. Protesters reportedly gathered both inside and outside the Tennessee State Capitol building.
The issue turned into a racial rights debate when Representative Johnson expressed that, in her view, she avoided the expulsion vote “because she is white,” Fox News reported. Johnson’s viewpoint was shared by many liberal counterparts, who shared their opinions and discontent with the decision via Twitter. Johnson’s counterparts who were expelled included Justin Jones, an African-American male, aged 27, who was originally from Oakland, California, and Justin Pearson, a 27-year-old African-American male who was born and raised in Memphis, TN, ABC News reported. Jones, however, has since been reinstated.
Others chose to support the expelled legislative members with financial aid. One supporter created a GoFundMe to support the Democratic lawmakers at risk of expulsion, who had yet to be expelled at the time the support fund was created by Oceana Gilliam of Nashville, Tennessee. At the time of this report, the fund had generated over $34,000, surpassing its $25,000 goal.
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