Tennessee's House of Representatives expels 2 Democrat lawmakers

[AgnosticBoy]

The mainstream media have been reporting that two Tennessee lawmakers were expelled from their positions for leading a protest at the state Capitol. I've been keeping an eye on this story ever since I read this headline on FoxNews site 2 days ago: Tennessee lawmakers lose committee assignments after storming state Capitol. The headline reminded me of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot (involving Trump supporters) at the US Capitol.

Here's a brief recap of what happened in Tennessee...
Here is the Fox News version:

Three Tennessee state lawmakers, all Democrats, were pulled from their committee assignments and could face expulsion from the legislature after they participated in storming the state Capitol during a protest against guns following last week's school shooting.

Tennessee House Republicans voted Monday to strip committee assignments from state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson and Gloria Johnson, according to WPLN.
The lawmakers joined anti-gun protestors in storming the Capitol last week after a 28-year-old transgender person opened fire inside the Covenant School in Nashville, which killed six people, including three children.

Using the word "storming" is a pretty strong word bringing back memories of the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol.

Reading from the Tennessean paper, you get a different picture:

More than a 1,000 peaceful protestors rallied around Tennessee’s state Capitol on March 30 calling for more restrictive gun laws. Many made their way into the Capitol in a demonstration top Republican lawmakers have likened to “an insurrection.”

No demonstrators broke into the Capitol, no one was arrested or injured, and no property was damaged.

But legislative business in the House was brought to a halt when three elected Democratic representatives stood at the podium with a bullhorn to lead protestors in the galleries in calls for gun reform.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, compared the events on March 30 to "at least equivalent, maybe worse" than the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which left a protestor dead, many police officers injured and millions of dollars of property damaged.

Interestingly, the reports today are that only 2 out of 3 of the lawmakers who participated in the protest were expelled. The 1 member that wasn't expelled is White and the two expelled lawmakers are minorities. Any prejudice going on here? We'll discuss it.

Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives has voted to expel Rep. Justin Pearson, a week after he and two other Democrats led a gun reform protest on the House floor.

The House earlier expelled Rep. Justin Jones over that protest, which followed a deadly mass shooting at a Nashville school. A vote to expel the third Democrat involved, Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed.

Source: CNN

For Debate:
1. Was the Tennessee House wrong to expel lawmakers who participated in a protest at the Capitol?
2. Was prejudice involved in the decision since one White lawmaker who protested was not expelled?
3. What's your takeaway on reading different versions of this incident? One of the sources jumped to conclusions?

 

[Multicolored Lemur]

I’d be a little skeptical that a crowded, passion-filled event had absolutely zero injuries. I mean, a crowded nightclub could have a couple of injuries for crying out loud.

But then, yes, ridiculous for Fox News — or rather, Fox Noise! — to call this “storming.” More the tricky connotations of the word.