And to those who here will cast a vote for expulsion, I was fighting for your children, too, to live free from the terror of school shootings and mass shootings. But I want to let you know that when I came to this well, I was fighting for your children and grandchildren, too. To my colleagues on the others out of the aisle, I want to say that you have the votes to do what you’re going to do today. Thank you for your question.ĪMY GOODMAN: After his questioning by Republican Ryan Williams, Tennessee Republican lawmakers gave Representative Justin Jones five minutes before their vote. That is what I was saying, Representative Williams. And so that there will be no peace in Tennessee until we act on this proliferation of weapons of war in our community. You’ve passed laws to make it easier to get a gun than it is to vote in this state. That’s what the chant means, is that we have no peace, and that until we act, there will be no peace for the thousands of children who came here demanding that we act, who are afraid that if they’re in school, they will be gunned down, because you have passed laws to make it easier to get a gun than it is to get healthcare in this state. 'Peace, peace, peace,' they say, where there is no peace.” They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.” I’ll go to the New International Version: “They dressed the wound of my people as though it was not serious. It says, “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. In addition, I would like to read some context about that chant, that comes from Jeremiah 6:14. That’s what I was saying, is that until we act, there will be no peace in our communities. I would invite my colleague from Putnam County to join any protest, where that is a very familiar chant, that it usually goes, “No justice, no peace.” And I believe the roots of it are - lie in something that Martin Luther King stated, that true peace is not merely the absence of tension, but it is the presence of justice. SPEAKER CAMERON SEXTON: Representative Jones? RYAN WILLIAMS: One of the questions that keeps coming back to my mind, that I hope maybe you can answer, is when you say, “No action, no peace,” what do you mean? What does Representative Jones mean by “no peace”? Thank you. There comes a time where people get sick and tired of being sick and tired. ![]() It is in that spirit of speaking for my constituents, of being a representative of the people, that I approached this well on last Thursday, breaking a House rule but exercising moral obedience to my constitutional responsibility to be a voice for my people, to be a voice for the Tennesseeans who you choose not to listen to because of those NRA checks that are so hefty in your campaign funds. In fact, what we were doing was calling for the end of gun violence, that is terrorizing our children day after day after day, and all we offer are moments of silence. And I think that he owes the people of Tennessee an apology, because at no point was there violence. JUSTIN JONES: I was shocked to have the speaker of the House condemn mothers and children and grandmothers and parents and concerned citizens, clergy, lie on them and say that they were violent insurrectionists. This is Representative Jones facing questioning from his Republican colleague and laying out his defense. In a minute, we’ll speak with Jones, but first we bring you some of the historic scenes that unfolded as Justin Jones and his colleagues defended themselves, and supporters looked on from a packed gallery but stayed quiet so they could witness the proceedings. They were part of the Tennessee Three, but the vote to expel their white colleague, Gloria Johnson, who joined them in solidarity, narrowly failed. ![]() Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis are both African American and from Tennessee’s two largest cities. AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Tennessee, where a Republican supermajority in the state Legislature carried out its threat Thursday to expel two Black Democratic lawmakers from their seats for peacefully protesting gun violence on the House floor last week, breaking with decorum as thousands rallied outside the Capitol to demand gun control, days after the Covenant elementary school shooting in Nashville that killed six, including three 9-year-olds.
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