前田纳西州众议员贾斯汀·皮尔森周日表示，他预计此后将很快获得连任他称之为“史无前例”的驱逐因为参与了一场喧闹的未被认可的枪支暴力抗议活动。
“我真的希望在连任中继续为86区服务，”孟菲斯民主党人皮尔森告诉美国广播公司“本周”的联合主播乔纳森·卡尔。“如果有一场特别选举，我肯定会参加那场特别选举，因为我们的选民被剥夺了公民权。”
皮尔逊被逐出田纳西州众议院周四与纳什维尔的民主党众议员贾斯汀·琼斯一起。这是该州现代史上第一次这样的党派驱逐。
在3月30日的抗议活动中，琼斯和皮尔森使用扩音器在众议院引导圣歌，短暂扰乱了立法工作。州众议员格洛丽亚·约翰逊，一位同样面临驱逐的民主党人，没有看到使用扩音器，并以一票之差幸免于被驱逐。
琼斯和皮尔逊都是黑人;约翰逊是白人。三个都有说他们相信种族是一个因素。
“这是我所见过的剥夺选民权利和压迫选民的最大策略之一，”皮尔森在“本周”节目中说道
“现实是，我们有一个超级多数的共和党立法机构，他们不想看到进展，更愿意听取全国步枪协会的意见，而不是选民的意见，”他说。
皮尔森说纳什维尔的圣约人学校枪击案在警方击毙枪手之前，他杀死了六人，“推动了关于结束我们社区枪支暴力的必要性的讨论。”
“要意识到，是的，这是在学校，这是我们需要处理的事情，但也是在我们的社区，”皮尔森说。“这是因为在共和党领导的多数立法机构中，枪支泛滥，法律泛滥，就像田纳西州这里一样，这继续对我们的社区产生负面影响。”
众议员贾斯汀·皮尔逊(Justin Pearson)在定于2023年4月6日在田纳西州纳什维尔(Nashville)举行的州议会枪支管制示威中，投票驱逐三名民主党成员。
切尼·奥尔/路透社
皮尔逊和琼斯重返立法机关有两种可能的方式:由他们各自的县专员任命空缺席位或竞选连任。
周四的投票“不仅是前所未有的，而且是历史性的，这是(议长)卡梅伦·塞克斯顿和占绝对多数的共和党立法机构对权力的历史性滥用，他们宁愿驱逐我们的声音，并试图将我们人民的声音驱逐出人民的房子，而不是解决枪支暴力问题和真正的枪支安全改革立法的需要，这种立法可以从一开始就防止人们死亡。”
田纳西州众议员杰里米·费森(Jeremy Faison)是州众议院共和党核心小组的主席，他此前在2007年为这一举动辩护美国有线电视新闻网的采访。
“我们不可能继续他们在委员会和众议院的行为方式，”Faison说。“必须有一些和平。”
他还表示，驱逐程序包括“正当程序”所有三名成员都能够在投票前在会议厅发言为自己辩护。
在周日对卡尔的采访中，皮尔森提到了田纳西州的2021年无许可证携带法及其对他所在地区的影响，并将其与不断上升的凶杀案联系起来。“相对于去年这个时候，我们城市的谋杀案上升了44%，”他说。"掌权者的决定会带来实实在在的后果。"
皮尔森说:“我们永远不会忘记，是悲剧让我们走到了这一步。”“演讲者厚颜无耻地称其中一些孩子和一些父母和祖父母为‘叛乱分子’，把他们比作1月6日，因为他们要求在民主中听到他们的声音。”
皮尔森说，是年轻人推动了这场运动。
“成千上万的儿童和青少年继续抗议，继续游行，继续大声疾呼，‘我们需要做些什么来结束枪支暴力’”，皮尔森说。“我祈祷上帝能够利用我作为州议会成员的声音来代表孟菲斯、谢尔比县和米林顿，继续为通过田纳西州大多数人想要的合理、明智的立法而斗争。”
Tenn. lawmaker Justin Pearson expects to soon be reappointed after unprecedented expulsion
Former Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson said Sunday he expects to be quickly reappointed afterwhat he called his "unprecedented" expulsionfor participating in a raucous, unrecognized gun violence protest on the Legislature floor.
"I do hope to continue to serve District 86 in the reappointment," Pearson, a Memphis Democrat, told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "If there is a special election, I would definitely run in that special election because our voters have been disenfranchised."
Pearsonwas ousted from the Tennessee House of Representativeson Thursday along with Democratic Rep. Justin Jones of Nashville. It was the first such partisan expulsion in the state's modern history.
During protests on March 30, Jones and Pearson used a bullhorn to lead chants on the House floor, briefly disrupting legislative business. State Rep. Gloria Johnson, a fellow Democrat who also faced expulsion, was not seen using the bullhorn and was spared from removal by one vote.
Jones and Pearson are both Black; Johnson is white. All threehave said they believe race was a factor.
"This is one of the greatest tactics of voter disenfranchisement and voter oppression that I've ever witnessed," Pearson argued on "This Week."
"The reality is we have a super-majority Republican legislature that doesn't want to see progress, that prefers to listen to the NRA rather than the constituents," he said.
Pearson saidthe Covenant school shooting in Nashville, which killed six before police killed the shooter, "has catalyzed the conversation about the need to end gun violence in our communities."
"To realize that yes, it is in schools and that's something that we need to deal with, but it is also in our communities," Pearson said. "That's because there's been a proliferation of guns and also a proliferation of laws in Republican-led majority legislatures like here in Tennessee that continue to have negative consequences for our communities."
There are two possible ways Pearson and Jones could return to the Legislature: appointment by their respective county commissioners to the vacant seats or running for reelection.
Thursday's vote was "not only unprecedented, it is historical in nature, it is a historical abuse of power by [Speaker] Cameron Sexton and the super-majority Republican Legislature who would rather expel our voices and tried to expel our people's voices from the people's house, rather than address the issue of gun violence and the need for real gun safety reform legislation that could prevent people from dying in the first place."
Tennessee state Rep. Jeremy Faison, the chair of the state House Republican Caucus, previously defended the move inan interview with CNN.
"It's not possible for us to move forward with the way they were behaving in committee and on the House floor," Faison said. "There's got to be some peace."
He also said that the expulsion proceedings included "due process." All three members were able to speak in the chamber to defend themselves before the votes.
During Sunday's interview with Karl, Pearson referenced Tennessee's 2021 permitless carry law and how it affects his district, linking it to rising homicides. "Murders are up 44% relative to this point last year in our city," he said. "There are real consequences to the decisions of people in power."
"We can never forget that it was tragedy that has brought us to this moment," Pearson said. "The speaker had the audacity to call some of those children and some of those parents and grandparents 'insurrectionist,' likening them to Jan. 6, because they're demanding that their voices be heard in a democracy."
It's young people, Pearson said, that are pushing the movement forward.
"It's children and teenagers by the thousands, who continue to protest, who continue to march, who continue to raise their voices to say, 'We need to do something to end gun violence,'" Pearson said. "I pray to God to be able to use my voice as a member of the state Legislature to represent Memphis and Shelby County and Millington, to continue to fight to pass reasonable, sensible legislation that the majority of people in Tennessee want."
