Tennessee’s GOP-dominated House on Thursday voted to expel Democratic Rep. Justin Jones from the Legislature for his role in a protest calling for gun control following last week’s shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville that killed six people, including three children.
Fox 17 Nashville reports that Jones was sanctioned for using a bullhorn when he joined with protesters, which state House leaders called “disorderly behavior.”
House lawmakers had also considered ousting Democratic Reps. Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson. Later Thursday, The legislature declined to expel Johnson. The 65-30 vote fell just one vote shy of the number needed to oust Johnson. A vote against Pearson was upcoming.
Last week, the trio of Democratic lawmakers chanted back and forth from the chamber floor with gun-control supporters packed in the gallery.
Thursday’s 72-25 vote against Jones marked an extraordinary move from lawmakers that has been executed only a handful of times since the Civil War. Most state legislatures possess the power to expel members, but it is normally reserved as a punishment for lawmakers accused of serious misconduct, not as a weapon against political opponents.