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Tennessee Republicans Expel Two Democrats Involved in the Leftist Takeover of State Capitol

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  April 07, 2023 6:45 AM

On March 30, transgender and anti-gun activists stormed the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville. It was three days after the shooting at Covenant School, a private Christian academy and site of Audrey Hale’s rampage. Hale was the transgender mass killer who murdered six people in cold blood, including three children. It’s a fact that the Left seeks to obfuscate for obvious political reasons. They’re trying to pivot and make this about gun control. The racial background of the shooter in past killings has always been front and center for the media’s attention, especially when the perpetrator is white. But because Hale was trans, you can’t mention that, with the press sprinting to move on from the tragedy and handing down orders to their staff to avoid referring to Hale as transgender; CBS News is said to have issued that edict. 

This storming of the state capitol was an act of rebellion; this is the Left’s precedent from January 6. Accountability must be meted out, which is why Tennessee Republicans, who hold a supermajority in the state house, moved to expel three Democrats—Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson—for their involvement in the rebellion. Resolutions to expurgate them from the lower chamber were voted on Thursday. Reps. Jones and Pearson were expelled; Johnson barely survived (via NBC News):


Republican legislators in Tennessee voted Thursday to expel two Black Democrats from the state House over their protests on the chamber floor against gun violence last week, while a vote to expel a third white Democratic representative fell short. 

It’s the first time in state history that Tennessee House members have been expelled for alleged chamber rules violations.

In the first vote, Republicans expelled Rep. Justin Jones. The second vote, to kick out Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed. Republicans then voted to remove Rep. Justin Pearson. 

Jones and Pearson are Black. Johnson is white. 

Cheers erupted in the chamber with chants of "Gloria!" after her tally was announced, later followed by "Shame on you!" after Pearson was removed.

The House voted 72-25 along party lines to expel Jones. The effort to remove Johnson fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. That vote was 65-30. Pearson was removed in a 69-26 vote.

The resolutions accused each of the Democratic lawmakers of engaging in “disorderly behavior” and purposely bringing “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives” during protests against gun violence on the state House floor last week.

I don’t make the rules, and perhaps the punishment was a bit heavy-handed, but let’s not for a second think that the Democrats wouldn’t do the same to us; they have done the same to us. If you want to call it payback, go ahead—I couldn’t care less. The Left is pushing a legal circus with this shoddy indictment against former President Donald Trump. It’s not a victory on equal footing, but I’ll take it.