NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Gun legislation wasn't technically on the calendar of the Tennessee General Assembly Thursday, but given the presence of some demonstrators and the heavy hearts of lawmakers, the topic definitely came up.
Which also meant, the temperature at the statehouse did too.
Just before 11 a.m. in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, disrupted the House floor session by taking a bullhorn and started leading the gallery in some chants.
They stopped after they were admonished by members of their own party, and later by the Speaker of the House after a 30-minute recess.
"At the same time, there is a proper way to handle that and a proper way not to — and what was demonstrated on this House floor was not the way to do that," said Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville. "Almost unanimously, I think everyone in this body would agree that was not acceptable behavior, that is not how members of the General Assembly should act."
Rep. Jones and Rep. Pearson were not formally reprimanded on the floor Thursday, but that could still be pursued next week.
According to the Associated Press, Minority Leader Karen Camper didn't critique their actions.
"They made some good trouble," she said.
House leadership isn't taking the actions lightly. Speaker Sexton told reporters their behavior was "unacceptable and needs to be dealt with" but didn't elaborate further on what those actions would look like.
After the outburst and the recess, the House reconvened and took on the rest of their regular calendar.
On Monday, March 27, six people were shot and killed by a gunman at The Covenant School.
Police received the 911 call for the shooting at 10:13 a.m. Within 14 minutes, Metro Police were able to take down the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale.
Hale gained access to the building through a side door that they shot through. From there, the shooter went upstairs and shot at police through the windows.
Two members of an officer team fired on Hale. Those two officers are officer Rex Englebert, a four-year MNPD veteran, and officer Michael Collazo, a nine-year MNPD veteran.
Who died in the shooting?
- Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9
- Hallie Scruggs, 9
- William Kinney, 9
- Cynthia Peak, 61
- Katherine Koonce, 60
- Mike Hill, age 61
The shooter was a 28-year-old Nashvillian who lived in the Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood.
