Tennessee Republican leaders have removed three Democratic lawmakers from their committee assignments for participating in peaceful protests following the mass shooting. On Monday, large crowds of protesters in the gallery of the Tennessee House of Representatives erupted in chants of “fascists!” as members of the Republican supermajority moved to permanently expel Democratic Representatives Justin Jones of Nashville, Gloria Johnson of Knoxville and Justin Pearson of Memphis. This is Representative Justin Jones.

Rep. Justin Jones: “Each of us represents 70-80,000 people, and our people are being silenced because they’re kicking us off committees. They’re threatening to take a vote to expel us today. Our member ID badges have been shut off. Our representative ID badges have been shut off. And this is not what democracy looks like. You know, we are elected to serve our constituents. And I’m the youngest Democratic lawmaker here, the most diverse district. And by shutting me down, they’re shutting down the voice of my constituents.”