Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones enters the House chamber ahead of a session as protesters chant demanding action for gun reform laws in the state at the Tennessee State Capitol on April 3, 2023, in Nashville. | Source: Seth Herald / Getty
A Democratic lawmaker in Tennessee facing expulsion over his advocacy for tighter gun laws in the wake of last week’s Nashville elementary school shooting was physically assaulted by a Republican on the State House floor on Monday, video footage shows.
State Rep. Justin Jones, a Democrat who is Black and Filipino, was struck by Rep. Justin Lafferty as chaos broke out in the Tennessee capitol building amid a Republican-led effort to keep state gun laws unchanged.
As Jones recorded the raucous scene of citizens chanting “fascists!” at Republicans, he focused on Lafferty, who was also holding his phone to document the protests. Jones continued to record from the House floor, showing people chanting from the balconies while being removed from the premises by law enforcement. But when he panned his camera phone back toward Lafferty, the Republican appeared to take a swing toward Jones’ head, knocking the Democrats’ phone from his hand.
“Lafferty pushes me and grabs my phone,” Jones said in a tweet showing the video footage. He called it “a sad day for Tennessee.”
Local news outlet the Tennessee Lookout described Lafferty as “grabbing Jones’ phone and shoving the freshman lawmaker.”
Lafferty’s violence came as Jones and two other Democratic state lawmakers are facing expulsion from the House because of their roles in leading a protest in the capitol building last week. A vote is scheduled to take place on Thursday when Jones and fellow State Reps. Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson could find themselves formally removed from their positions.
The House Democratic Caucus and Tennessee Black Caucus called the unprecedented move “political retribution” that is both “unconstitutional” and “morally bankrupt,” considering the context of the protests.
House Democratic Caucus Leader John Ray Clemmons also said Lafferty is guilty of “assault.”
House Republicans, on the other hand, have argued that Jones, Johnson and Pearson “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.”
Conservatives have been busy deflecting blame for last week’s deadly shooting rampage at the Covenant School, where three 9-year-old children and three adults were killed by a gunman.
In one glaring example of conservatives inexplicably refusing to acknowledge the role guns play in mass shootings, a Fox News contributor blamed the senseless violence at the Covenant School on an “unlocked” door that was actually locked after all.
“We need to remember, the side door, I don’t know the exact facts of this moment but from what I understand a side door was unlocked,” Fox contributor Nicole Parker, who is a former FBI agent, said in the hours after the shooting. “That seems to be a common pattern in many of these shootings. A side door.”
Of course, Parker’s assessment was completely wrong as surveillance footage from the school later showed 28-year-old former Covenant School student Audrey E. Hale using one of the multiple powerful guns they had to shoot through the locked door.
Not to be outdone, Florida Republican Congressman Byron Donalds suggested seeking tighter gun laws in Tennessee was the result of “emotion” and not logic.
“If you’re going to talk about the AR-15, we’re talking politics now…Let’s not get into emotion,” Donalds said in reference to an event that involved three nine-year-olds being ruthlessly gunned down. “Because emotion feels good, but emotion doesn’t solve problems.”
Donalds then suggested the topic of mental health be prioritized, not guns, as if both can’t be done at the same time.
“People are allowed to possess firearms,” Donalds went on to say. “Need is in the eye of the beholder. I don’t question why you need a blue suit, but you got one.”
This is America.
SEE ALSO:
GoFundMe Surges For Michael Hill, Longtime Covenant School Custodian Killed In Nashville Shooting
Hundreds Of Thousands Of People In Tennessee Voted Against Banning Slavery
