It’s Fascism, Period: Congressional Progressives Condemn Racist Tennessee Deportations

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Progressives in the U.S. Congress reacted with outrage on Thursday after the Republican-dominated Tennessee House voted to expel two lawmakers who joined protesters in demanding gun control legislation during a protest in inside the State Capitol last week.

“It’s fascism,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “Expelling your political opponents for demanding action on gun violence while children are dying is disgusting.”

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., also called the expulsion of Democratic state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson “outright fascism in its ugliest, most racist form.” Jones and Pearson are both black; a vote to evict fellow Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, failed.

“There is no justification for ousting two lawmakers who were protesting with and for their constituents,” Lee said in a statement. “That two black men were expelled for opposing the murder of children, but not their white counterparts, says it all. People are dying because Republicans want to put politics on the lives of the people they represent They demand security for themselves, but not for schoolchildren, and they will sacrifice the lives of our loved ones for their lobbyists.”

“Now is not the time to be on the sidelines,” added Lee. “We better fight back before it’s too late.”

Thursday’s expulsion votes, held as furious protesters gathered inside the Capitol to protest the decision, came less than two weeks after a mass shooting at a Nashville school left three young children and three adults dead.

The eviction resolutions were led by Republican Representatives Bud Hulsey, Gino Bulso and Andrew Farmer, staunch opponents of gun control. Hulsey and Farmer have voted to further weaken Tennessee’s gun regulations several times in recent years, earning them high marks from the National Rifle Association.

“This is fascism, period,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., tweeted after Thursday’s votes. “MAGA Republicans no longer settle for inaction against gun violence instead of thoughts and prayers, they want to silence and kick out politicians who speak out to protect children. I vehemently condemn this racist attack and anti-democratic against freedom of expression.”

Tennessee Republicans who likened the peaceful Capitol protests following the shooting to an “insurrection” justified the impeachment of Jones and Pearson as a defense of decorum. Last week, Jones, Pearson and Johnson took to the podium upstairs at the State House without recognition to show solidarity with those demanding legislative action in response to the Nashville massacre, the 129th mass shooting in the United States. United this year.

But the claim that the expulsions were necessary to protect the standards of the chamber has been widely dismissed as cover for heavy-handed political retaliation, especially given the past refusal of Republicans in Tennessee to impeach lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct and misconduct. other wrongdoing.

“For years, one of your colleagues, a convicted child molester, has sat in this chamber without eviction,” Jones said in a speech on the floor Thursday, referring to the former Republican state representative. David Byrd.

Johnson filed resolutions to expel Byrd in 2019 and 2020, but the GOP-controlled chamber declined to act. Byrd was subsequently re-elected in 2020.

“We had a former speaker sitting in this room who is now under federal investigation without deportation,” Jones said in his speech. “We have a member still under federal investigation without deportation. We had a member who peed in another member’s chair, in this room without deportation. In fact, they are in the management, in the administration of the governor.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., joined her fellow progressive House members in speaking out against the actions of the Tennessee House and predicted that the evictions will only galvanize youth activism.

“Republicans may think they won today in Tennessee, but their fascism is only further radicalizing and waking up an earthquake of young people, both in the South and across the country,” the Democrat wrote. New York on social media.

“If you thought the youth organization was strong,” she added, “just wait for what comes next.”

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