Political leaders speak out against ousting of Tennessee lawmakers: "That is not a democracy"

Reaction poured in on Friday in support of two young Black Tennessee lawmakers who were ousted from the state legislature for breaking decorum in a demonstration on gun control at the state house.

The Republican supermajority, in an extraordinary measure, voted to remove representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson on Thursday. A third Democratic lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson, survived the vote.

“To me, it’s a horrific indictment on the Tennessee GOP, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves and the fact that they continued to keep their foot on the accelerator when they knew the world was watching really just shows what this Republican Party has sunk to – new lows,” said Tennessee Black Caucus Chair Rep. Sam McKenzie at a news conference on Friday.

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris visited Tennessee on Friday to show her report for the ousted lawmakers.

“What is that? That is not a democracy. That is not a democracy,” she told students at Fisk University.

The partisan battle comes after three 9-year-old students and three adults were killed and a March 27 school shooting in the city, the latest high-profile mass shooting in the U.S.

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