“It will echo across the country. I think it will have a chilling effect on all states where there are supermajorities or very Republican states,” Rep. Gloria Johnson, one of the Democrats facing removal threats, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “This is undermining our democracy, for sure, because everyone will be asking, ‘Am I next?’”
The ACLU in Tennessee also issued a warning to the effort «undermines democracy.”
“Expulsion is an extreme measure that is used very infrequently in our state and our country because it strips voters of the representation of the people they chose,” Kathy Sinback, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, said in a statement.
State legislatures often go decades without taking such action against members.
The dispute began last week when hundreds of protesters gathered at the capitol in Nashville to urge lawmakers to pass gun safety measures following a shooting at a local school that left three adults and three children dead.
Amid the protests that filtered into the building, Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson led the House floor in chants calling on their colleagues to pass new gun laws. Lawmakers were aided by a megaphone.
His stunt infuriated Republicans, who quickly introduced resolutions calling for his removal. causing more chaos on the Chamber floor.
Now, Republican leaders, who have likened those actions to an «insurrection,» will vote Thursday on whether to allow members to continue serving in the House or be removed from office. Democrats have already been stripped of their committee assignments.
The resolutions filed against the three stated that they had engaged in «disorderly conduct» and that they «knowingly and intentionally brought disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.»
Critics of the measure to evict members argued that Republicans have failed in the past to remove their members. members of his own party that he acted egregiously, like a former manager who was accused of sexually assaulting teenagers when he was a basketball coach.
“It is morally insane that a week after a mass shooting claimed six lives in our community, the only response from House Republicans is to oust us for supporting our constituents in calling for gun control.” Jones tweeted Tuesday afternoon. «What is happening in Tennessee is a clear danger to democracy across the country.»
The group of Democrats faces difficult difficulties in surviving the vote: both houses of the Tennessee legislature are controlled by a Republican majority. Special elections will be held if the resolutions are approved.
Johnson, a former teacher who survived a school shooting that left a student dead, said she plans to bring a lawyer to Thursday’s vote and «fight back.»
“I’m happy to come forward and make my case heard, because I will always raise the voices of the people in my district who want to see gun sense legislation,” Johnson said.