GOP silences 'Tennessee Three' Democrat on House floor for day on 'out of order' rule; crowd erupts

GOP silences ‘Tennessee Three’ Democrat on House floor for day on ‘out of order’ rule; crowd erupts

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, speaks from the House floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, raises his fist to supporters outside the House chamber during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Jones was silenced for the remainder of the day by a floor vote after he was twice ruled out of order by the House Speaker. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, listens as demonstrators display a banner for gun law reform over the chamber floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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People hold signs in the House gallery above the chamber floor advocating for gun law reform during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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A Tennessee State Trooper, right, removes a demonstrator’s banner advocating for gun law reform from the House chamber during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Parents from The Covenant School comfort each other and hold signs above the House floor advocating for gun law reform during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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A Tennessee State Trooper, left, removes people from the gallery after an order from the House Speaker during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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A demonstrator leaves the gallery holding a sign calling for House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, to resign during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rachelle Lefevre yells from the House gallery after a vote from the floor to silence Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, for the day during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Jones was twice ruled out of order by the House Speaker prompting the action by Republicans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, left, and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, yell with protesters outside the House chamber during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Democrats walked off the floor after Republicans voted to silence Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, for the remainder of the day after he was twice ruled out of order by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Antonio Parkinson, D-Memphis, right, high-fives with demonstrators outside the House chamber during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, walks out of the House chamber after being silenced for the day by a vote on the floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Jones was twice ruled out of order by the House Speaker prompting the action by Republicans. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashivlle, speaks from the House floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Demonstrators display a banner over the House chamber advocating for gun law reform during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Susan Lynn, R-Mt. Juliet, speaks from the House floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, speaks from the House floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Brittany Cyr holds signs in the House gallery supporting gun law reform during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Mary Joyce of the Covenant Families Action Fund looks onto the House floor during a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The group is advocating for gun law reform after the March 27, Covenant School shooting. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rebecca Hansen, left, and Mary Joyce, right, of the Covenant Families Action Fund, walk to the state Capitol before a special session of the state legislature on public safety Monday, Aug. 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The group is advocating for gun law reform after the March 27, Covenant School shooting. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, greets people before attending a hearing on the General Assembly’s rule banning signs at the special session at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville , Tenn., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Attorneys representing the plaintiffs discuss during a hearing on the General Assembly’s rule banning signs at the special session at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville , Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Allison Polidor, walks out of the courtroom following a hearing on the General Assembly’s rule banning signs at the special session at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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From left, Allison Polidor, Erica Bowton, Maryam Abolfazli speak to members of the press following a hearing on the General Assembly’s rule banning signs at the special session at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Allison Polidor, listens during a hearing on the General Assembly’s rule banning signs at the special session at Historic Metro Courthouse in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, watches as House Republicans vote to silence him during the special legislative session on public safety in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. The move Monday prohibited Jones from speaking and debating bills for the rest of Monday’s floor session. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, watches as House Republicans vote to silence him during the special legislative session on public safety in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Republican lawmakers voted to silence Jones, a Democratic member of the so-called Tennessee Three during a House floor session after determining the young Black member violated newly enacted rules designed to punish disruptive members. The move Monday prohibited him from speaking and debating bills for the rest of Monday’s floor session. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, looks on as House Republicans vote to silence him during session at State Capitol Building in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

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Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, listens as Rep. Justin Pearson, , back second right, defends Rep. Jones before House Republicans vote to silence him during the special legislative session on public safety in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)

By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and JONATHAN MATTISE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican lawmakers voted Monday to temporarily silence a Democratic member of the so-called Tennessee Three during an already tense House floor session after determining the young Black member violated newly enacted rules designed to punish disruptive members.

The move directed at Rep. Justin Jones prohibited him from speaking on and debating bills for the remainder of the day, which came a week into a special session that Republican Gov. Bill Lee called in reaction to a deadly shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville in March.

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The House and Senate are locked in an icy standoff over what to pass as families close to the shooting have increasingly voiced their frustrations with the legislative process. Various mental health, juvenile justice, school safety and other proposals are among what’s being considered.

Republican legislative leaders aren’t taking up any significant gun control changes, including the governor’s push to keep guns away from people judged to pose a threat to themselves or others.

The vote to silence Jones prompted loud cries and chants that drowned out proceedings for several minutes even after the House speaker ordered the gallery to be cleared out.

Moments prior, Jones had been criticizing legislation that would have allowed more law enforcement officers in schools and began listing other resources that the state should be providing.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton had warned Jones not to stray off topic. Under new rules adopted by the GOP-dominant chamber last week, members can be silenced anywhere from a day to the rest of the year for not sticking to the bill being debated.

“What our schools need are mental health professionals,” Jones said. “We need funding for mental health, for counselors. We need to pay our teachers better. We don’t need more police in our schools.”

Sexton then ruled Jones out of order, setting up a vote on whether to quiet him for the rest of Monday’s session.

What happened next was a chaotic flurry of legislative proceedings, where Democrats outraged at the decision to move ahead to try to silence Jones for the day began pleading with their GOP colleagues to change their minds. Republican lawmakers remained unconvinced, however, with 70 GOP members voting to silence Jones. Democratic members then angrily left the chamber with Jones.

The crowd, which included gun control advocates urging change in a special session after a deadly Nashville school shooting in March, shouted “fascists” and “racists,” and Sexton ordered troopers to clear out the gallery of the public.

“Look, House rules are House rules,” Sexton told reporters afterward. “We voted on it. Might not like the rules, but the rules are what they are.”

Many in the crowd remained in the stands, and their cries of “vote them out” and “Whose house, our house” drowned out the legislative proceedings for several minutes, enough at one point that a Republican lawmaker said he couldn’t hear what he was supposed to be voting on.

Earlier that session, Sexton warned Jones he was nearly “impugning the reputation” of Republican Rep. Gino Bulso by calling Bulso’s bills “reprehensible,” “asinine,” and “insulting,” including one being discussed at the time that would allow private schools with pre-kindergarten classes to have policies allowing guns on campus.

Democrats noted that Bulso himself had been told to stay on topic, including when he said Jones “continually misrepresents facts to the public,” then later said Jones “makes outrageous statements,” without being put up for a vote on whether he should be silenced.

Not long after, Jones said lawmakers should “stop trying to put more guns to start a gun fight in our schools that would not protect our children. What is one little Glock against an AR-15?”

Sexton then declared Jones out of order.

Jones was among the two Tennessee lawmakers expelled earlier this year for his role in a pro-gun control protest inside the Tennessee Capitol, propelling him into the national spotlight as the new face of Democratic politics.

The April demonstration came just days after a shooter opened fire at The Covenant School, killing three children and three adults. Jones joined Democratic Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson in approaching the front of the House floor without permission with a bullhorn, joining the chants and cries for action by protesters in the public gallery and outside of the chamber.

Pearson and Jones, who are both Black, were expelled, while Johnson, who is white, was spared by one vote. The two have since been reelected to their positions.

“The House is out of order under Cameron Sexton’s leadership,” Jones told reporters shortly after leaving the House floor. “It’s very disheartening, it’s very troubling. This is a step from authoritarianism, and we should all be troubled by this.”

Among the new slate of strict rules that House Republicans signed off on last week was a ban on the public holding signs during floor and committee proceedings. A Tennessee judge has since blocked the sign ban from being enforced after agreeing with civil rights activists that the prohibition likely violated free speech rights.

While the state is fighting to uphold the ban, Chancellor Anne Martin stood by her decision Monday, noting that “the state has no interest in enforcing an unconstitutional restriction.”

The silencing of Jones is just one of several tense interactions that have exploded during the special session.