I donned a suit and tie this morning and moseyed over to the Cordell Hull Building of the Tennessee State Capitol to try to prevent my state legislature from debasing itself and disgracing our state further by moving a bill that would decriminalize killing protesters with cars forward in my Senate Judiciary Committee. I’ll link to the coverage I can find as it appears, but I’m beginning to suspect some reporting will only happen if I do it myself. Be the journalism you want to see in the world. All the footage and photos below come from the Twitter feed of the Tennessee Holler.
Philosopher prophet Justin Jones made a plea before the committee that they each strive to regard the folks the law would endanger as their fellow human beings. He also traced a prophetic trajectory of Beloved Community which includes Congressman John Lewis who said this: “When you see something that is wrong, unjust, unfair, you have an obligation to get in the way.” It was sometimes hard to tell who on the committee was moved. Senator Dawn White, for example, appeared to be texting through much of Brother Jones’ testimony. But his insistence that the bill Senator Paul Rose hoped to push through is “morally insane” seemed to catch on. Please behold the whole lovely thing.
As you can see, baseline moral seriousness won the day (at least for now), but there were a few moments I’d like to highlight that weren’t caught on the video. Senator Sara Kyle held up the above photo of Senator Thelma Harper to emphasize what Brother Jones had pointed out, that the very woman the legislature sought to mourn and celebrate today could have been killed or charged with a felony under the law Senator Rose hoped to move forward. Senator Kyle also said this: “As a lawyer I believe immunity lowers the standard of care... we should be be protecting the first amendment, not lowering the standard for this care.” She noted that the desire to give immunity to drivers who kill protesters would be “a punitive measure” that “would apply to minorities more than other populations.”
When Senator Katrina Robinson pushed Senator Rose to explain himself as to why he wanted to give drivers the opportunity to weaponize their vehicles in the presence of protesters, he said a shocking and disturbing thing I wrote down: “"My intentions are not to harm someone if I'm protecting my family. Hopefully they'll get out of the way."
Senator Robinson invited her colleagues to consider the way the law would endanger their own lives and the lives of those they know and love: “This bill is just alarming to me…[Addressing Senator Rose] your granddaughter may want to get more involved one day... This is the wrong message we’re sending.”
Here’s more from Natalie Allison. I want to note that if the incident Senator Rose cited involving Senator Joey Hensley anecdotally is the one I’m thinking of, I was there and he’s offering a mischaracterization of events. At least one driver of one vehicle carrying a representative even revved the engine as protesters asked to speak to people who were on the verge of criminalizing peaceful assembly. I wrote about that day here. I believe Senator Rose’s attempt to portray Tennesseans who want to persuade their elected officials to serve their interests instead of criminalizing their persons as a riotous mob was made more difficult when many of us showed up to bear witness.
Here’s Brother Jones giving thanks and I hope all people of goodwill reading this will join him in spirit:
Thanks for tuning in.
thank you for your heart and conscience, david. for caring enough to put on a suit and leave the house and give us all the account. i came within yards of being run over by one of these guys here in iowa city this summer. the attempted murderer told the judge “i thought they needed an attitude adjustment”. the judge waived the $1,000 fine. what did you say? something about how we might have to start being the journalists we’re looking for? thank you for doing the work today of showing the way.
Thanks for sharing this David. This is the first time I've heard Justin Jones speak. I'm eager to meet him someday.