GOP Representative Bryan Richey said ousted Tennessee Democrat Justin Jones « didn’t care » if the Republican voted for his expulsion.
After Tennessee Republicans were accused of racism in their ousting of two Black Democrats, GOP Representative Bryan Richey defended the vote, claiming one of the expelled lawmakers, Justin Jones, told him that he wanted to be kicked out.
Jones and fellow former Democratic Representative Justin Pearson were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives on Thursday, a week after they breached decorum while participating in a gun-control protest. An effort to remove Democratic Representative Gloria Johnson, who is white, failed by one vote.
The « Tennessee Three » have gone viral for speaking out of turn in support of a youth-led protest on gun control after the recent deadly shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. The nation’s 129th mass shooting killed three 9-year-olds and three adults. It has reignited the gun-law debate across the country, particularly among Gen Z.
Richey, who voted to expel Jones but not Pearson or Johnson, said racism was not a factor.
