Texas Democratic legislator to stay in state capitol after refusing law enforcement escort to leave
First, Texas House Democrats refused to meet in their legislative chamber in an act of resistance. Now, one of them won’t leave.
State Rep. Nicole Collier of Fort Worth on Monday said she will remain locked in the Austin statehouse chamber until the House reconvenes on Wednesday morning.
She is making the move after she refused conditions set by Republican leaders that would have required her to sign off on a law enforcement escort before being allowed to go home after Monday’s session.
It’s another dramatic turn in the two-week saga involving Texas state House Democrats who fled to other states earlier this month, with most of them taking refuge in Illinois. The plan denied a quorum for Republicans to move forward during a special legislative session with a redraw of Texas’ congressional map, an act aimed at padding the GOP’s U.S. House majority.
“I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts,” Collier said in a statement that called her a “political prisoner” for refusing Republican “surveillance protocol.”
Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows on Monday said that the Democrats who had arrest warrants issued against them could not leave the chamber unless they agreed to specific conditions.
“Members who have not been present until today, for whom arrest warrants were issued, will be granted written permission to leave only after agreeing to be released into the custody of a designated [Department of Public Safety] officer appointment under the rules of the house,” he said, adding that the officers would “ensure your return Wednesday at 10 a.m.”
“For those still absent, civil arrest warrants remain in force,” Burrows added.
Collier is a seven-term Democratic lawmaker and former chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus who also represents a majority-minority district. Democrats have charged that the redrawn congressional maps would tear up those districts, stripping those voters of their voices.
“When I press that button to vote, I know these maps will harm my constituents — I won’t just go along quietly with their intimidation or their discrimination,” she added in the statement.
“My constituents sent me to Austin to protect their voices and rights,” she said.
A Burrows spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.