Several Texas Democrats join Rep. Nicole Collier in chamber protest

Several Texas Democrats joined state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) on Tuesday to protest new guidelines preventing party members from leaving the House chambers without a police escort and signed agreement.

Democratic State Reps. Mihaela Plesa, Morales Shaw, Rhetta Bowers, Cassandra Garcia Hernandez and Salman Bhojani joined Collier and House Minority Leader Gene Wu on the floor after their Monday overnight in rebuke of GOP lawmakers’ redistricting efforts. Several members tore up their “permission slips” outside the chamber.

Texas lawmakers will vote on whether to add five new congressional seats on Wednesday after a group of Democrats fled the state for 15 days seeking to prevent a quorum, the number of present legislators required to proceed with votes. 

“Yesterday, I left in custody and I came back in custody, because I stand with Nicole Collier and Gene Wu,” Shaw said. 

“This is illegitimate, this is a wrongful use of power, and I will not condone it, and I don’t want to be a part of setting a very bad and low precedent for future legislators,” she added.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R) said Monday lawmakers who leave the floor would have to agree to be shadowed by a Department of Public Safety officer until Wednesday morning. 

“This is a blatant violation of our freedoms as Texans, as Americans and as duly elected officials,” Bowers said, as reported by CNN. 

Collier gained national attention over her decision to remain inside the House chamber overnight instead of leaving with an officer. 

“I refuse to comply with this unreasonable, un-American and unnecessary request,” Collier, who spent two nights on the House floor, told CBS News.

The Democrat said she received a call from former Vice President Harris encouraging her to continue her efforts in the Lone Star State.

“She said, ‘Keep going.’ She said, ‘Don’t give up. Stand strong. Stand tall, and don’t back down,’”she  told CNN’s Dana Bash on “The Arena.”