NASHVILLE (AP) — A student group that opposes Tennessee's voter ID law has staged a silent protest in the gallery of the House chamber.

Members of the Nashville Student Organizing Committee stood in three rows overlooking lawmakers for more than an hour Monday. They stuck black tape over their mouths and held hands while the chamber went about its business.

Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell, who has taken a hard line against past disruptions in the chamber, didn't acknowledge the students.

The group last week broke into a civil rights-era song after a House subcommittee rejected attempts to amend the state law to allow college IDs to be used to vote.

Rep. Joe Carr, the panel's chairman and a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, angrily ordered them removed from the room.