'Impossible to sit idly by': Facing expulsion, Rep. Justin Pearson responds to colleagues

Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson wrote to his legislative colleagues on Monday to take "accountability" and outline the motivation behind a protest on the House floor last week, though Republicans pushed ahead with an effort to expel the Memphis Democrat and two other lawmakers.

"I recognize that I did not follow decorum this past Thursday on the House floor, and I take full responsibility and accountability for my actions," Pearson said. "When I saw thousands of people — mostly children and teenagers —protesting and demanding action from us after the slaying of six innocent people, including three 9-year-old children, it was impossible to sit idly by and continue with business as usual."

Pearson faces a House expulsion vote on Thursday, along with Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, after the trio led peaceful protest chants from the House chamber during a floor session on March 30.

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The three approached the House podium without being formally recognized amid frustrations lawmakers were conducting regular business as hundreds chanted for gun reform outside the chamber door, just days after the deadly Covenant School shooting.

"If this House decides to expel me for exercising our sacred first amendment right to help elevate the voices in our community who want to see us act to prevent gun violence, then do as you feel you must," Pearson said in his letter. "We must always stand up for what we believe to be right and just, we must say no to more gun violence. We must prioritize the voices of thousands of families that are hurting due to this country's gun violence epidemic, especially in communities like District 86. We must never become desensitized to the voices of people crying out for change. We must never accept senseless deaths to continue on our watch, and do nothing."

Though it is unprecedented to expel lawmakers for breaching floor decorum, Republican leadership have argued the breach was unprecedented. House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, who has compared the peaceful protest to an "insurrection," and said Monday the three were angling for arrest instead of "focusing on the six victims," which he called "appalling."

"Yes, what they did was an act against civil authority, Sexton said. "They had no authority to go to the well, they had no authority to do that. They disrupted the institution of the General Assembly, something that's never happened before in our history, over something that they wanted to lead a protest on the House floor. So yes, there will be consequences for those actions."

Johnson told Knox News on Tuesday she believes the trio is on the "right side of history."

"The very first action this body takes after a shooting that killed three children and three school personnel, the very first action they’re gonna take is to expel the very people who were speaking out against it," Johnson said.

The expulsion process descended into a frantic fracas Monday night after Sexton ordered troopers to clear the galleries, where protestors had responded to House debate with shouts and jeers, even chanting "Fascists!" at one point.

On the chamber floor, Jones and Rep. Justin Lafferty, R-Knoxville, got into a physical confrontation as both filmed the gallery being cleared. Jones accused Lafferty of shoving him and snatching his phone away.

Lawmakers quickly fell into a contentious scrum that took several minutes to break apart.

"It’s morally insane that a week after a mass shooting took six lives in our community, House Republicans only response is to expel us for standing with our constituents to call for gun control," Jones said in a Tuesday statement. "What’s happening in Tennessee is a clear danger to democracy all across this nation."

Lafferty on Tuesday didn't deny pushing Jones.

“Representative Jones came to my desk and as I turned he shoved his phone in my face in a threatening manner. I reacted as anyone would," Lafferty said. "Attempts to characterize this as anything else are misleading and false. The three members who are in danger of losing their jobs are desperate to deflect attention away from their actions.”

Tensions are likely to run similarly high on Thursday during the expulsion hearing, when the three will have a chance to defend their actions. However, expulsion appears likely as Republicans hold a supermajority in the chamber and can vote the lawmakers out without any Democratic votes.

Lawmakers will likely be greeted by another gauntlet of protestors at the Capitol as various groups have called for a third day of protests in Nashville, this time for gun reform and to support the three Democrats.

Tyler Whetstone in Knoxville contributed to this report.

Reach Melissa Brown at mabrown@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson responds to colleagues amid expulsion debate