ST. PAUL, Minn. — On Thursday, April 6, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to expel two Black lawmakers, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson—just failing to oust a third representative, Gloria Johnson, by one vote—a week after the three Democrats led a gun reform protest in the chamber. This follows yet another mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville that left three 9-year-olds and three adults dead.
The Minnesota State Senate POCI (People of Color Indigenous) Caucus stands in firm solidarity with these three Tennessee lawmakers and call for the reinstatement of Representatives Jones and Pearson. Under this expulsion, 148,000 Tennesseans are left with no representation, a situation that is absolutely unconscionable.
Firearms are now the leading cause of death for children and teens (ages 1 to 19) in the United States. Every year, 19,000 children and teens are shot and killed or wounded and approximately 3 million are exposed to gun violence. There is no doubt that our children and teens are hugely impacted by gun violence in all its forms, affecting their psychological and mental well-being. When homes, neighborhoods, and schools are not safe from gun violence, entire generations of American children are affected.
“Tennessee House Bill 322 requiring minimum efforts to ensure school safety seems more like creating prison-like academic environments and this is not the answer for Tennessee and it’s not the answer for Minnesota. The real issue is how to prevent people access to assault rifles that results in mass killings,” stated POCI Caucus Chair Senator Mary Kunesh (DFL-New Brighton).
“It is unjust and egregious to expel Representatives Jones and Pearson for breaking decorum rules to speak for gun reform and call for legislative action,” said Senator Susan Pha (DFL-Brooklyn Park).
Minnesota DFL members have called for even the most basic gun reform legislation for close to a decade, only to be blocked by the GOP, strongly influenced by the gun industry.
Right now, we are witnessing courageous state lawmakers who are standing with their constituents to defend our nation’s democracy, ensuring the outcome of the popular vote, and the freedom to speak their truth. We join other state legislators who reject Tennessee’s efforts to strip these lawmakers from their duly elected positions, undermining the people’s will, and the direct threat to our democracy everywhere.
The members of the Senate POCI Caucus are Senator Mary Kunesh (Chair), Senator Bobby Joe Champion, Senator Omar Fateh, Senator Foung Hawj, Senator Alice Mann, Senator Erin Maye Quade, Senator Zaynab Mohamed, Senator Clare Oumou Verbeten, Senator Susan Pha, and Senator Tou Xiong.
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