Heightened Security During Session Could Become Norm At Tennessee Capitol

House Speaker Sexton threatens to bring in more full-time troopers to control protests during legislative session.

Image: Protesters outside Tennessee’s House and Senate Chambers. Image Credit: John Partipilo

By Sam Stockard [Tennessee Lookout -CC BY-NC-ND 4.0] –

State officials won’t divulge the number of troopers who worked security – or the cost – at the August special session, but that type of force could be seen frequently during regular sessions too.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton said recently he didn’t know how much the state spent to bring in dozens of troopers, if not more than 100, to the Capitol and Cordell Hull Building for a week and a half in August. 

But he said more troopers could be hired full time if disruptions continue during the Legislature’s regular sessions.

Sexton claimed both House Republicans and Democrats said they didn’t feel safe at the end of the regular session in March and April and wanted more security. Anti-gun protests in the wake of the Covenant School mass shooting brought out hundreds of local students and parents who filled the Capitol and shouted at lawmakers to pass weapons restrictions.

Sexton said the Legislature worked with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to set up a new plan in advance of the special session.

It included limited access to the Cordell Hull tunnel, which links to the Capitol, and required Capitol visitors to go through the building’s front door where they were met with increased trooper presence.

State troopers lined the hallways of the Capitol and filled the Cordell Hull building throughout the special session. 

“I think you could actually see us hire and put more security there full time if this is the road we’re going to continue to go down,” Sexton said. “But the number one job is to make sure the people who are visiting feel safe, make sure the members feel safe, and the number that we had there was accomplishing that goal.”

State departments have refused to respond to public records requests seeking to find out the number of troopers who worked security or the amount of money spent to pay them during the session.

State Rep. John Ray Clemmons, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Tuesday neither he nor the caucus requested a larger trooper presence or limited access to the Cordell Hull tunnel during the special session.

“That police state was the entire doing of the snowflakes in the GOP supermajority,” Clemmons said in a text message. “Unlike our colleagues, Democrats aren’t afraid of mothers and children with signs.”

Clemmons hinted that Republicans should be more worried about the next election cycle, considering their refusal to “protect communities from gun violence.”

Covenant School parent Sarah Shoop Neumann said Tuesday the special session held the potential to be explosive but noted the security increase wasn’t necessary, especially after the session started calmly and continued with little disruption.

“I think it becomes this fine balance of protection versus limiting people in the people’s house, and I do think it got to that,” Neumann said. “There were times when the whole rotunda was full of security and the seats weren’t full in the chamber but you weren’t allowed in.”

She pointed out state troopers were following orders and treated people “with kindness.”

Besides the extra security personnel, the Republican-controlled House adopted new rules designed to stop another floor protest such as one led against gun violence by Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones in late March. The House voted the following week to expel the pair but narrowly allowed Rep. Gloria Johnson to remain a member. Pearson and Jones were reappointed by their local governing bodies a week later and won re-election this year.

Jones filed a lawsuit this week against Sexton claiming his constitutional rights were violated during the expulsion and in the special session when his efforts to speak were curtailed.

House Republicans adopted a series of rules designed to quell protests. 

At one point during the special session, Rep. Lowell Russell had troopers escort a woman out of a House committee meeting for holding a small sign in violation of new House rules.

Three women filed a lawsuit, and a Davidson County judge immediately ruled that the sign prohibition violated people’s constitutional rights.

About the Author: Sam Stockard is a veteran Tennessee reporter and editor, having written for the Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro, where he served as lead editor when the paper won an award for being the state’s best Sunday newspaper two years in a row. He has led the Capitol Hill bureau for The Daily Memphian. His awards include Best Single Editorial from the Tennessee Press Association. Follow Stockard on Twitter @StockardSam