WHITE PLAINS – The Democratic caucus of the Westchester County Board of Legislators stands “in full solidarity” with ousted Tennessee Representatives Justine Person (D, Memphis) and Justine Jones (D, Nashville), who were “unjustly expelled from the state legislature for protesting against gun violence.”
The local lawmakers said the “right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, and the actions of these legislators were a powerful demonstration of their commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of their constituents.”
The Westchester officials said the fact that only two members of the ‘Tennessee Three’ were expelled, both of whom are black, “raises serious questions about the motivations behind this decision.” They called the removal of the two men “a clear example of systemic racism at work, and it is unacceptable.”
The three – Pearson, Jones and Gloria Johnson (D, Knoxville), were “simply exercising their First Amendment rights to bring attention to the urgent need for common-sense gun reform measures,” the Westchester officials said. “Their expulsion from the legislature is a clear violence of their rights and a perversion of democracy.”
