Readers might remember RedState’s extensive coverage of several members of the Volunteer State’s General Assembly—known to some as the “Tennessee Three”—aiding progressive gun control and transgender activists in an insurrection at the state Capitol in late March, in the wake of the Nashville shooting by someone who identified as transgender.
Scenes out of the Capitol building on March 30 looked like this:
TRANSURRECTION: Leftists targeting Tennessee lawmakers block hallways of state capitol in Nashvillepic.twitter.com/qIbsYoNDXL
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 30, 2023
Or this, when some of the protesters reached the chamber of the General Assembly:
BREAKING: LEFTISTS STORM TENNESSEE CAPITOL pic.twitter.com/tvgegge8hL
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) March 30, 2023
First, the Republican majority literally locked the three Democrat representatives out of the chamber, and stripped their committee assignments:
State Representatives Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones were notified by the Clerk of the Tennessee House of Representatives that they had been stripped of all committee assignments. A third representative, Justin Pearson (Justin as a first name seems to be a thing amount Tennessee Democrats), had no committee assignments. Their ability to enter the legislative facilities was restricted in a separate action.
Then the Republicans, showing real backbone, promptly passed a resolution to file expulsion orders for them, as RedState’s Bonchie wrote; the majority eventually voted to expel two of the three members: Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Rearson. What followed was a victory tour of sorts for the Dems, with a stop at the White House to garner praise from pal, President Joe Biden. They also appeared on “Good Morning, America.” By mid-April, the city councils of the state representative’s areas temporarily handed the seats back to Jones and Rearson. It was at this point that Jones pulled a tasteless stunt—carrying a child’s casket into the chamber as a gun control protest. As Bonchie wrote:
The legislature’s Sergeant at Arms stops Jones, noting that they can’t enter the floor with the coffin. Someone who I assume is a priest or pastor then challenges the Sergeant at Arms, asking if there’s a rule or constitutional provision to bar them from doing so. The response is that the rules say no props, which sounds reasonable and likely, though I haven’t gone and found the exact provision to verify that.
Jones continues to argue because he’s a shameless, attention-seeking clown who is using dead Christian children as pawns in a ridiculous partisan game. At no point has it been reported that the “Tennessee Three” reached out to the families who lost loved ones in the Nashville shooting. I’ve also seen no indication that they have offered to raise money for them or pushed the White House to make them more visible.
Instead, Jones, like the rest of the broader left, essentially pretended the shooting itself didn’t happen, at least as far as acknowledging who the victims were.
Well, now the voters of Tennessee have reinstated the two legislators via a special election. And one of them still appears to harbor confusion about the definition of “victims” and “persecution.”
via The Associated Press:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, who became Democratic heroes as members of the “Tennessee Three,” reclaimed their legislative seats Thursday after they were expelled for involvement in a gun control protest on the House floor. […]
They advanced Thursday through a special election to fully reclaim their positions. Both faced opponents in districts that heavily favor Democrats and easily defeated them according to unofficial results from the Tennessee’s Secretary of State’s office.
A tweet by state Rep. Jones crows that “the People have spoken”…
Well, Mr. Speaker, the People have spoken.
The FIND OUT era of politics is just beginning.
See you August 21st for special session. pic.twitter.com/DoL3XvYheX
— Rep. Justin Jones (@brotherjones_) August 4, 2023
…While the other waxes on about persecution in a vague tweet, though it’s unclear if he means by the Republican majority…
Sunday always comes! @tnhousegop @TNGOP You can’t expel a Movement! You can’t expel Hope! Resurrection is a promised prophecy to a persecuted people! Thank you District 86 and our Movement for your votes, love, prayer, and support! We did it!!!!! pic.twitter.com/RYQhIXzzot
— Justin J. Pearson (@Justinjpearson) August 4, 2023
The AP shares a fact that doesn’t appear to bolster the victimhood these Democrats seem to want to claim:
The expulsions drew national support for the newly dubbed “Tennessee Three,” especially for Pearson and Jones’ campaign fundraising. The two raised more than $2 million combined through about 70,400 campaign donations from across the country. The amount is well beyond the norm for Tennessee’s Republican legislative leaders and virtually unheard of for two freshman Democrats in a superminority.
Perhaps the people have spoken, but the message is a hypocritical one. What exactly did the state reps accomplish for their constituents with all of this—including rallying people to disrupt the proceedings of the legislature?
I’ve been assured this is the definition of insurrection—and a threat to democracy as we know it.
