When will people realize DEMOCRATS are against our first responders?

[IHaveRespawned]

My state of Tennessee is one of only few that does not have felony charges for assaults against firefighters and EMTs. Both a house and senate bill was introduced to fill those voids, making assaults against all first responders a felony.

This firefighter/EMT presented to the senate judiciary committee hoping that the bill would pass. She was assaulted on the job while caring for a patient.

While the bill did pass through the committee successfully, the only two democrat members seated on the committee voted no.

Here is the wall of shame:

I agree they are antagonists to first responders

I believe those democrats made the correct decision

See poll

Updates

5 mo

I am curious at to what defense you leftists have in the snubbing of our firefighters and EMS personnel!

[abc3643]

Can you do some due diligence for us?

Do you have URLs for...

What's the bill identification?

What's the list of votes?

Here's what bothers me: It's not that I disbelieve you, but you only list 2 Democrats. Presumably, their 2 nay votes blocked legislation upgrading assault on first responders from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony (like assault against law enforcement).

Since I doubt there are only 2 Democrats in the Tennessee Senate and that the Senate is overwhelmingly GOP and has well over 4 senators, it seems implausible that 2 Democratic Senators prevented passage of the legislation; it would have needed more votes. So, whatever you are bitching about, you ought to do your due diligence.

Unfortunately, you didn't do it, so I have to do it for you to answer my own questions...

Let me show you an example of doing due diligence by doing the due diligence you should have done before asking this question...

First, this is a list of all members of the Tennessee Senate:

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/LegislatorInfo/Directory?chamber=S

Looking at that list, we do indeed see Sara Kyle and London Lamar as Democratic Senators. In fact, of the 32 members of the Tennessee Senate, 27 are GOP and only 5 are DEM. Kyle and London are both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/CommitteeInfo/SenateComm?ga=114&committeeKey=670000

Second, the bill in question was introduced in the Senate in January 2026:

SB1607

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 13, relative to assault.

Criminal Offenses - As introduced, increases the penalty for assault against a first responder from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony with a mandatory fine of $10,000 and a mandatory minimum sentence of 60 days. - Amends TCA Title 39, Chapter 13.

It was also later introduced as HB2618 in February 2026.

For reference, this is the relevant statutes in TCA Title 39, Chapter 13:

https://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/title-39/chapter-13/part-1/section-39-13-116/

2024 Tennessee Code

Title 39 - CRIMINAL OFFENSES (§§ 39-1-101 — 39-17-1812)

Chapter 13 - OFFENSES AGAINST PERSON (§§ 39-13-101 — 39-13-1004)

Part 1 - ASSAULTIVE OFFENSES (§§ 39-13-101 — 39-13-119)

Section 39-13-116 - Assault against law enforcement officer, first responder or nurse - "Law enforcement officer", "first responder" and "nurse" defined - Penalties

Universal Citation:
TN Code § 39-13-116 (2024)

Here's the meat of this legislation that is the focus of this question:

(a) A person commits assault against a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse, who is discharging or attempting to discharge the law enforcement officer's, first responder's, or nurse's official duties, who:
(1) Knowingly causes bodily injury to a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse; or
(2) Knowingly causes physical contact with a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse and a reasonable person would regard the contact as extremely offensive or provocative, including, but not limited to, spitting, throwing, or otherwise transferring bodily fluids, bodily pathogens, or human waste onto the person of a law enforcement officer, first responder, or nurse.
...
(c)
(1)
(A) Assault against a law enforcement officer under subsection (a) is a Class E felony, and shall be punished by a mandatory fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and a mandatory minimum sentence of sixty (60) days incarceration. The defendant is not eligible for release from confinement until the defendant has served the entire sixty-day mandatory minimum sentence.
(B) Assault against a first responder or nurse under subsection (a) is a Class A misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a mandatory fine of five thousand dollars ($5,000) and a mandatory minimum sentence of thirty (30) days incarceration. The defendant is not eligible for release from confinement until the defendant has served the entire thirty-day mandatory minimum sentence.
...
(d) For purposes of this section:
(1) "First responder" means a firefighter, emergency services personnel, or other person who responds to calls for emergency assistance from a 911 call, but does not include a law enforcement officer;

So, what's at issue here is that the bill wants to upgrade (c)(1)(B) so the assault, as defined in (a), against first responders from a Class A misdemeanor (with a minimum 30-day sentence) to a Class E felony (with a minimum 60-day sentence) which is what assault against law enforcement is.

OK, back to the bill...

Currently, this bill is in committee - at least in the House. I am not sure if it is still with the Senate Judiciary Committee because I am unsure of how they document the bill state; the verbiage is not clear:

Worse, they do not document how members voted, so we do not know how Kyle and London voted, so we can't accuse them of anything and you most certainly can't blame the Democrats for obstructing the bill since it hasn't even come up for a full Senate or House vote yet!

SO...

Stop spewing the hate and echoing unconfirmed crap as if it is the gospel.

All of this said, personally, I'd vote for the bill. I do believe that, as defined in the Tennessee legislation, first responders should be treated on the same level as law enforcement regarding assault. Unfortunately, our society has generally written statutes which have added criminality when the crime is committed against a member of law enforcement. That's understandable.

What you should perhaps be more outraged by is why the existing statute only makes this a Class E felony. Looking at the statute, some aspects of this should be an elevated felony. However, the legislators leave up that to the judges and only give mandatory minimum sentences; judges can hand out higher sentences as long as they don't violate the 8th Amendment.

[IHaveRespawned]

The Senate Bill number is SB1900. The corresponding House Bill number is HB2428.

The Senate Judiciary Committee heard the bill as of this past Tuesday.

Here is the website for the TN Senate Judiciary Committee:

wapp.capitol.tn.gov/.../SenateComm

Also, please watch the video of the Committee meeting. You will see the Firefighter/AEMT from Crossville, TN fire department speak too about her experience being assaulted.

[IHaveRespawned]

... oh, and if you want the video link for the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Feb 17, here is the link:

tnga.granicus.com/.../32638

Of course, this is going to be a very fucking long meeting. There should be an agenda directory listed below. Click on the SB1900 one.

[Anonymous]

two democrats in a single state in a small committee vote against a bill

you take that to mean DEMOCRATS are against our first responders?

hahaha ok snowflake

[IHaveRespawned]

You should of seen Sen. Sara Kyle's reaction to the brave firefighter who presented to the committee. It was bullshit. The only two democrats who say on tbe committee were the same two to vote no. One republican said "pass" which neither is a yes or no vote. All the Republicans were in support of the bill.

[IHaveRespawned]

*the only two who sit on the committee

[Opinion Owner]

these two represent.000000005% of all democrats
so again i'll reiterate my question. the vote of 2 people (.000000005% of all registered democrats), who didn't said they are against first responders but against the bill, means ALL DEMOCRATS are against first responders?

[cherrytreeblossom]

it's a demotard disease to be soft on crime, but it pales in comparison to all the things maga is up to. releasing all those criminals just bc they paid off the right party is a sign of a third world country like where my mom comes from. and then there's covering for pdf-files like there's no tomorrow. demotards may be soft on crime, but retardlicans actually perpetuate crime and actively get themselves in the line of fire just to protect the worst of the worst

i wished we had a system like hongkong used to where the president/government essentially did nothing, not even collect or release economic data, till the day my father had to flee because of the chinese takeover

[cherrytreeblossom]

obviously there was policing and courts
forgot to mention

[exitseven]

they want to defund the [police/. They ant to get rid of qualified immunity.

[IHaveRespawned]

Those two senators pictured above are part of the wall of shame tonight

[888theGreat]

Lots of Democrats are police, emt's, fire fighters. Why do Trumpers think all responders are Trump ass sniffers , Republicans , or Conservatives? Why Trumptards think all shooters now are Trans people on the left? Most shooters are from the right , 90% of the time.

[IHaveRespawned]

This has nothing to do with Trump. This is a state matter and a proposed state law that will help our first responders in our state. It just shows the leftists' Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and dangerous.

Firefighters and EMS personnel deserve the same protections as law enforcement officers.

[loveslongnails]

Tennessee is one of the most backward ass states in the country. Period.

[beefcakebradybatson]

I realize you're full of ish, though First Responders must be legally protected from dangerous folk.

[Anonymous]

Huh? Trump won that state didn’t he? No way it’s a blue state