Chuck Darwin<p>Tennessee Democrats may be expelled from the House in first-of-its-kind partisan vote</p><p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three members of the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Democratic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Democratic</span></a> Party may face an <a href="https://c.im/tags/expulsion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>expulsion</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/vote" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>vote</span></a> this evening following their interruption on the House floor Thursday afternoon.</p><p>Reps. Gloria Johnson (Knoxville), Justin Jones (Nashville) and Justin Pearson (Memphis) walked up to the well of the House during their Thursday session. The move has since been characterized by Republican lawmakers as an “insurrection”.</p><p>According to all three lawmakers, they decided to take to the well after being repeatedly <a href="https://c.im/tags/silenced" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>silenced</span></a> by Sexton throughout the week following the <a href="https://c.im/tags/mass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>mass</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/shooting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>shooting</span></a> at The <a href="https://c.im/tags/Covenant" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Covenant</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/School" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>School</span></a>, which killed six people, including thee 9-year-old children.</p><p>“We get punished for doing something like listening to the people of the state of Tennessee,” Pearson said.</p><p>“The three of us were tired of our voice not being heard in the morning for Welcome and Honoring,” Johnson said. </p><p>“We didn’t get called on for the voucher bill that happened, and we decided between bills we were going to walk up, we were going to <a href="https://c.im/tags/acknowledge" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>acknowledge</span></a> the <a href="https://c.im/tags/people" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>people</span></a> outside <a href="https://c.im/tags/surrounding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>surrounding</span></a> this building, in the rotunda, and we’re going to <a href="https://c.im/tags/speak" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>speak</span></a> to their <a href="https://c.im/tags/issue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>issue</span></a> and tell them that we are with them, because they needed to hear that.”</p><p><a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/3-democrats-in-the-tn-house-face-possible-expulsion-the-first-time-in-state-history-it-would-not-be-bipartisan/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politi</span><span class="invisible">cs/3-democrats-in-the-tn-house-face-possible-expulsion-the-first-time-in-state-history-it-would-not-be-bipartisan/</span></a></p>