April 24 (UPI) — President Joe Biden will meet Monday with three Tennessee Democrats who faced backlash after staging a protest over gun violence in the state Capitol in late March.
Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson will arrive at the White House for the meeting with the president around 3:15 p.m. Black lawmakers Jones and Pearson were briefly expelled from the state legislature earlier this month before being quickly reseated by local councils. Johnson, who is White, survived an ouster by one vote.
The group plans to discuss continuing efforts to ban assault weapons and ways to “stand up for democratic values,” the White House said.
The meeting comes nearly a month after a school shooting in Nashville killed six people, including three children, on March 27.
Days after the massacre, Jones, Pearson and Johnson stormed the House podium in a call for stronger gun control measures that have been blocked by Republicans in the state.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton accused the trio of breaking the rules of decorum and attempting to incite an insurrection, and the Republican-majority legislature voted April 6 to boot them from the House.
The move prompted immediate condemnation from the White House, with Biden calling the ousters “shocking, undemocratic and without precedent.”
While both Jones and Pearson were expelled, Johnson was able to keep her House seat after a 65-30 vote, which was one shy of the total needed to oust her.
The next day Vice President Kamala Harris met privately with Jones and Pearson during a surprise visit to Nashville, where Biden spoke to the lawmakers via conference call and invited all three to the White House for a formal sit-down.
Two weeks ago, the Nashville Metropolitan Council in House District 52 voted unanimously to reinstate Jones, who was sworn in on the steps of the State Capitol shortly afterward. Days later, the Shelby County Board of Commission, in Memphis’ District 86 also voted to reinstate Pearson, who has also since retaken his seat.
Suspicious that racism may have played a role in the dismissals, a handful of Senate Democrats, led by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to launch a civil-rights investigation.
Last Friday, Republican Tennesee Gov. Bill Lee announced a plan to call a special legislative session focused on gun reform in the wake of the shooting at a private Christian school.
He urged the legislature to pass a limited law that would keep firearms out of the hands of individuals who pose an immediate risk of harm to themselves or others.
“There is broad agreement that dangerous, unstable individuals who intend to harm themselves or others should not have access to weapons,” he added.
But Republicans have already indicated that red flag legislation would be a “non-starter” in the state House.