FRANKLIN ALDERMAN
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SOUTHERN FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
APRIL 27, 2023 | VOLUME 35 | NUMBER 17
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Covenant School mother shares grief, parents call for gun reform BY MATT MASTERS
Protesters at the Tennessee State Capitol on April 6, when lawmakers voted to expel Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson PHOTO BY MATT MASTERS
Legislature leaves Nashville, spurning governor’s call for action on guns BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT
It’s hard now to recall that the 113th session of the Tennessee General Assembly started back in January, rather than on March 27. That latter date is when a shooter entered the Covenant School in Green Hills, about seven miles from the state Capitol, and killed three 9-year-old students and three school staffers. The tragedy kicked off a month of mourning, protest and conflict at the state legislature, members of which rushed this week to conclude their business for the year and leave Nashville. The state House and Senate met throughout the week, adjourning Friday evening after extended floor sessions and
back-and-forths between the bodies. Their urgency to leave Nashville was evidenced by their willingness to meet on a Friday. The legislature, dominated in both chambers by Republicans, spent the past month hosting thousands of anti-gun protesters; declining to advance gun restrictions despite calls to do so by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, Democratic members and protesters; and expelling and then almost immediately welcoming back two Democratic members who staged an anti-gun protest on the House floor. It might have been a year, rather than just a month, since Lt. Gov. Randy McNally weathered a caucus confidence vote in the wake of revelations that the >> PAGE 2
Bishop William J. Barber II supports Covenant School mother Sarah Shoop Neumann as she speaks through tears about the trauma she, her son and the entire Covenant School community have experienced since the March 27, 2023, school shooting. PHOTO BY MATT MASTERS
Hundreds of protesters marched to the Tennessee State Capitol on April 17 as part of the “Moral Monday” protest aimed at continuing to pressure government action on gun violence, which despite support from Gov. Bill Lee, may fall flat in the legislature. Protesters, many of whom were faith leaders from across the state and nation, gathered at McKendree United Methodist Church before marching to Legislative Plaza and later making their way into the Capitol, carrying with them empty caskets: one adult-sized, three children-sized and one baby-sized. The protest was led by North Carolinabased Bishop William J. Barber II who began the peaceful Moral Monday civil rights protests in 2013.
Among the protesters was Sarah Shoop Neumann, whose five-year-old son Noah attends The Covenant School. “My own son, Noah, was okay, he was getting a haircut with his dad, but the rest of our community was inside that building,” Neumann said through tears. “My friends, our children; so many people we love in that building, our safe space.” Neumann spoke of contacting her friends to warn them of the danger and gathering at the reunification site in a nearby church. “I won’t ever be able to describe what it was like sitting in that church. I didn’t feel like I was in my own body, holding our friends, praying, waiting to hear if their kids were alive,” Neumann said. “Piecing together things that people saw and heard. >> PAGE 2
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