Georgia House and Senate Democrats at a Jan. 12, 2023 press conference

ATLANTA — Democrats and others around the country are supporting two Tennessee representatives who were expelled by their Republican counterparts for participating in a protest for gun reform.

Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, both Democrat Black men, participated in a gun control demonstration with thousands of constituents on the House floor days prior with Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman and Democrat, the Tennessean reports.

The Republican-dominated legislature, made up of 73 Republicans and 26 Democrats, voted April 6 to expel Jones and Pearson, but Johnson survived a vote to keep her seat.

“The very notion of expelling duly elected representatives for bringing the demands of their constituents to the floor is disenfranchising the voters who elected them,” said Grayson Sen. Nikki Merritt of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus during an April 7 press conference. “Two Black members were singled out, and allowing the one white member to remain is the continued suppression of Black voices when it comes to critical issues.”

Just days before, on March 27, there was a mass shooting at a Nashville private school, killing three children and three adults.

Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, said the maneuver by the Tennessee legislature was part of efforts of Republicans nationwide to address gun violence and reform.

“What problem have you solved? Whose interests are you serving? Is anyone safer by what you’ve done,” she said.

Freshman Democrat Omari Crawford, a Decatur representative, opined that while punishment is rarely fair or equitable when it comes to minorities, the actions by the Tennessee legislature were unconstitutional.

He referenced a 1966 Supreme Court decision involving former Georgia representative Julian Bond, who actively spoke out against the Vietnam War and criticized the federal government.

“What the Supreme Court held is that a function of the First Amendment and a representative government requires that legislators be given the widest latitude to express their views on issues of policy, and debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide open,” Crawford, an assistant county attorney for DeKalb County, said. “As legislators, we have an obligation to take positions on controversial political questions so that our constituents can be fully informed by everything that’s happening in our House.”

House Minority Leader James Beverly recalled similarities in what he called an “overreach of power” that has occurred in Georgia.

Ga. Democrat Rep. Park Cannon was arrested in March 2021 after knocking on Gov. Brian Kemp’s door during a protest against his signing of Senate Bill 2020, an election overhaul bill.

“It was horrible. It was horrendous,” Beverly said.

Beverly also referenced Georgia’s Republican-dominated legislature’s actions in suspending rules to advance certain laws or legislation.

“Last year, we were working on reapportionment. They threw out House rules like they didn’t even matter. They didn’t listen to our local control issues. They didn’t care,” Beverly said at the April 6 press conference. “On the last day of session this year, quite frankly, they [didn’t] even put stuff on our desk in time to vote for [it] and pushed it right through. So the rules are made for those who are in the minority, not majority, and we see that happening.”

Beverly said he planned to have discussions with Ga. House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican, to make sure the actions of the Tennessee lawmakers aren’t duplicated in Georgia.

“We’ve got to ensure that we’re making sure that we changed the rules that would absolutely direct the actions the way they should be, so that we can listen to the people who don’t agree with us without trying to punish them with the loss of their career or their autonomy,” Beverly said.

According to The Tennessean, Republicans have claimed that race was not a factor in expelling the two men. Republicans have made reference to Johnson’s testimony that “she didn’t chant, that she didn’t have a sign, and that she didn’t have a bullhorn,” when making the decision to expel the two Black lawmakers.

Georgia Democrats have created a link to donate to the reelection of Jones and Pearson in Tennessee: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dlcc-jones-pearson.

The Alabama House Democratic Caucus has also joined in supporting the two expelled Black legislators.

“The fact that the two legislators who were black, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, were expelled is not lost upon us. We commend Representative Gloria Johnson for using her platform to support her colleagues,” a statement for the Caucus read. “In Alabama, we stand with the 7,000 Tennessee citizens who marched on their state capitol… Votes are sacred in America. Inviolable. If a district duly elects someone to represent it in a state capitol, that choice must be honored. But today, in Tennessee, extremists took that away.”

“Americans want their lawmakers to act on common sense gun safety reforms that we know will make our communities safer,” the statement continued. “Instead, like in Tennessee, we’ve seen Republicans continue to advance bills, like permitless concealed carry, that have turned our schools, churches, and communities into battlegrounds. We will not be silenced or stand by as our colleagues are silenced. It’s time to act before more Alabama children die.”

UPDATE: Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones was reappointed back into his seat late in the afternoon April 10 by the Nashville Metropolitan Council in his district, as permitted by the state’s Constitution. The vote allows Jones to serve i in the seat until a special can be held for the seat, according to NPR. The Shelby County Board of Commissioners, which houses Rep. Justin Pearson’s district in Memphis, is planning to meet April 12 to decide on Pearson’s reappointment.