Two new Tennessee Democratic members of Congress who protested inside a building a week ago demanding better gun control after the school shooting were expelled from the majority House of Representatives on Thursday. his ethics and protocols.

Tennessee congressional vote (72-25 to impeach Mr. Jones, 69-26 to impeach Mr. Pearson, 65-30 to impeach Mrs. Johnson, who retained her seat because a 2/3 majority was required). while protesters gathered outside the State Congress. They chanted “Shame on you” as two MPs were expelled and burst into applause when white Rep. Johnson retained her seat. Gloria Johnson, also a Democrat and facing expulsion from the House of Representatives for the same reasons, was able to hold her seat by a single vote.

Protesters entered the Tennessee Capitol to demand members of the state’s Congress act after the attack. “What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!” shouted in the corridors.

According to media reports, Mr. Jones and Mr. Pearson used loudspeakers to urge protesters to shout slogans such as “power to the people” or “no peace without action.”

“An elected official who has expressed his disagreement cannot be expelled. We have never seen anything like this in Tennessee. This has never happened before in our history, ”was the reaction of Justin Jones in front of the cameras.

“We see that we don’t have a democracy in Tennessee,” he continued. “I will continue to hold them accountable for my actions,” he said, referring to his fellow deputies, “this is not only about me, but about trying to silence and block the whole movement,” he insisted.

Solutions of this kind are extremely rare in the US. Congress in Tennessee has fired only two lawmakers in its modern history, in 1980 and 2016.

On March 28, Audrey Hale broke into Covenant School with two machine guns and a pistol, causing death before she herself was shot dead by police.

The tragedy, the motives of which remain unknown, caused violent emotional reactions and brought back to the public discussion the issue of weapons, which are now the main cause of death of minors.

Message from Biden

“The expulsion (…) of parliamentarians who participated in a peaceful demonstration is shocking, undemocratic and unprecedented,” US President Joe Biden said in a press release from his services last night.

“Instead of discussing this issue, Republican elected officials decided to punish, silence and disqualify lawmakers elected by the people of Tennessee,” he added, and then called on Congress to ban assault rifles for the hundredth time.

It is unlikely that this appeal of the American president will be heard, since Republicans, who always defend the constitutional right to own weapons, oppose any initiatives to tighten legislation at the federal level.

Earlier yesterday, the Tennessee Democratic Organization announced that it was raising funds to support those excluded in the upcoming special election to take their seats.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters.