The Tennessee Three

Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones

The Tennesse House of Representatives voted to expel two Democratic members yesterday, after they were vocal on the House floor, protesting in favor of gun control. There were actually three Democratic Representatives who protested, but the one representative who is White did not receive enough votes to be expelled. The two young Black men did. The three protestors, now being called the Tennessee Three, are Justin Pearson, Justin Jones, and Gloria Johnson.

"What is happening here today is a farce of democracy," Jones said at the beginning of his 20-minute defense. "What is happening here today is a situation in which the jury has already publicly announced the verdict. What we see today is just a spectacle. What we see today is a lynch mob assembled to not lynch me, but our democratic process."

He continued, “We called for a ban on assault weapons, you responded with an assault on democracy.”

I hope the two expelled members run again. This is outrageous.