Thousands of Christians across the United States have signed an online petition, calling for a House Speaker to resign.
Recently, American Christians are signing an online petition introduced by Faithful America, demanding Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to resign from the position.
The outrage comes in response to Sexton’s move, organizing a vote that expelled two Democrat Tennessee lawmakers from the House last week.
“The lawmakers—Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson—spoke out of turn when they supported a youth-led protest calling for gun control following the shooting at a Nashville elementary school last month that left three students and three adults dead,” NextGen News reported.
In addition, representative Gloria Johnson also issued a striking statement, blasting Sexton’s move and participated in the protest.
Amid the controversy, “Tennessee Republican lawmakers have been accused of racism after they expelled Jones and Pearson, both Black men, but by one vote, Johnson, who is white, was able to keep her seat,” the report added.
Moreover, after Jones and Pearson got expelled from the House, dozens of faith officials in the community also reportedly conducted a press conference.
The move also forced The House to reappoint both Pearson and Jones to their vacated seats a week ago which prompted the Faithful America petition, demanding Sexton’s resignation.
The petition, which was posted Wednesday, has reportedly garnered 9,741 signatures on Friday and the number has surpassed the petition’s original goal of 5,000 signatures, which has since been changed to 10,000.
It also accused Sexton of acting with racist intentions when he called for the House vote to remove the black lawmakers while Johnson, who is white, wasn’t expelled.
“House Republicans ultimately voted to expel Reps. Jones and Justin Pearson—but not Rep. Gloria Johnson, kicking out the two Black men but not their white compatriot,” the petition reportedly said.
The petition also claimed that Sexton’s controversial remark, accusing the lawmakers of “insurrection” was a lie to “undermine democracy, silence his Black and progressive opponents, and distract from demands for gun reform.”
At the time of writing, Newsweek has not released any updates after the outlet reached out to a spokesperson for the Tennessee House of Representatives for comment.
