Topics: US News, News, Politics, Social Media
Earlier this week, Texas Democratic State Representative Nicole Collier spent the night locked in the state House of Representatives in Austin after refusing a Republican demand to be placed under the watch of the state Department of Public Safety.
When Texas House Democrats returned to the Capitol in Austin on Monday (18 August) after previously fleeing the US state earlier this month to prevent a vote on a controversial Republican redistricting plan, the likes of House Speaker Dustin Burrows put restrictions on their movements.
He announced that such Democrats were now only allowed to leave the House floor if they agreed to be under law enforcement escort until the chamber reconvenes on Wednesday morning (20 August).
While the majority of the Democrats complied with the law enforcement escort, showing reporters what have been dubbed 'permission slips' they received to leave the House floor, Collier refused such an agreement and was confined to the House floor since returning.
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"I refuse to sign," she told Fox News’s Austin affiliate. "I will not agree to be in [Department of Public Safety] custody. I’m not a criminal. I am exercising my right to resist and oppose the decisions of our government. So this is my form of protest."
"My constituents sent me to Austin to protect their voices and rights," the politician elaborated in a subsequent statement.
"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.
"My community is majority-minority, and they expect me to stand up for their representation. 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."
While some Republicans and MAGA-heads alike have criticised Collier for the 'protest' - with her posting a photo on X showing her taking a 'nap' in the chamber - many others rushed in to share their praise for her actions and called out the House over the 'outrageous' rule.
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett penned on X: "As a former Texas State Rep, let me be clear: LOCKING Rep. Nicole Collier inside the chamber is beyond outrageous.
"Forcing elected officials to sign 'permission slips' and take police escorts to leave? That’s not procedure. That’s some old Jim Crow playbook. Texas Republicans have lost their damn minds."
A second questioned: "How is that not kidnapping? Or false imprisonment?"
"So they’ve kidnapped her?" asked a third, while a fourth chimed in: "How is this legal."
And a fifth lamented: "How is this legal?"
"Elected officials held captive by their opponents - that’s authoritarianism, not governance," stated a sixth while a seventh echoed: "This is clearly authoritarianism."
Another hit out: "What kind of police state is this? Permission slips for state legislators?"
And a final X user declared: "That is an outrageous violation of her rights as a human, everyone she officially represents, and all of us who expect the rule of decent law."
Speaker Burrows told Tyla in a statement: "Rep. Collier’s choice to stay and not sign the permission slip is well within her rights under the House Rules. I am choosing to spend my time focused on moving the important legislation on the call to overhaul camp safety, provide property tax reform and eliminate the STAAR test — the results Texans care about."
