US Vice President Kamala Harris: “A democracy says you don’t silence the people. You do not stifle the people”

Colombo (News 1st) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke out strongly on the importance of freedom of expression on Saturday.
“The truth must never be stifled or silenced when it is on behalf of the people… A democracy allows for places where the people’s voices will be heard, and honoured and respected. A democracy says you don’t silence the people. You do not stifle the people. You don’t turn off their microphones when they are speaking about the importance of life and liberty,“ Harris declared.
The Vice President spoke during a surprise visit to Fisk University in Nashville, in the U.S. state of Tennessee where days before, two members of the Tennessee State Legislature were expelled from the legislature by a vote of their fellow lawmakers, after the two spoke out against gun violence. Their action came after a shooting at a preschool in Nashville where three nine-year-old children and three teachers were killed.
Harris noted that authoritarian leaders should not be “challenging notions about who should say what and when and where.”