Lawmakers in Tennessee expelled two of their own members over a protest for stricter gun control, and one of them is from the East Bay.
It all began a week ago when three lawmakers interrupted a legislative session by chanting “no justice no peace” on the Tennessee House floor.
The proceedings then came to a grinding halt.
Tennessee's speaker of the House called the peaceful protest unacceptable and a violation of House rules.
Fast forward to Thursday, lawmakers voted to expel the lawmakers. One of them, Justin Jones, was born in Oakland and graduated from Hercules High School.
He went to college in Tennessee on a scholarship for his social activism.
“This does not seem like America,” he said. “To expel voices of opposition in the senate is a signal of authoritarianism. And it is very dangerous."
Local
In 2013, NBC Bay Area spoke to him at a rally at the federal courthouse in Oakland.
There was a protest over the acquittal of George Zmmerman, in the death of Trayvon Martin.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
"And we're also calling for peace in our communities. Whether in the neighborhoods of West Oakland or in a gated neighborhood in Sanford, Florida. We need to end gun violence. So that's why we're here. And especially the youth, we're trying to get them involved in this modern day civil rights movement,” said Jones at the Oakland protest.
Colleagues also voted to oust representative Justin Pearson, but the vote to oust representative Gloria Johnson failed.
