We stand with #TheTennesseeThree.

In the wake of the shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, TN State Representatives Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson and Justin Jones stood up in protest at the State House to demand the passage of the kind of common sense gun laws that would have helped prevent the tragedy.

In response, their collegues voted to expel Reps. Pearson and Jones, both African American, from their elected offices, while allowing Rep. Johnson, a white woman, to stay in office.

We applaud the three of them for fighting to protect children, and we abhor the Legislature’s blatantly racist retaliation against duly elected representatives.