Democratic Texas State Rep. Nicole Collier spent Monday night on the state’s House floor after refusing Texas Republicans’ demands.
Democratic Texas State Representative Nicole Collier spent Monday night confined to the state’s House floor after she refused to acquiesce to Texas Republicans’ demand that she only leave under the watch of agents of the Department of Public Safety.
Collier posted a photo of herself Tuesday on Instagram sleeping in one of the House chamber’s seats with a sleep mask and blanket on. “This was my night,” the Texas politician captioned the photo. “Good Morning America,” meanwhile, dedicated part of its Tuesday broadcast to sharing footage from Collier’s overnight stay. “I’m tired of being pushed around and told what to do when I disagree with the actions of our government,” she told viewers.
Collier was one of a group of Texas House Democrats who fled the state earlier this month in order to stall a vote on State Republicans’ redistricting plan. Collier and her fellow Democrats returned to the Capitol building in Austin, Texas, on Monday, where Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows announced that their future movements would be monitored and restricted.
Burrows told Democrats in attendance they would only be permitted to leave Texas’ House chamber Monday if they signed a permission slip agreeing to DPS escorts that would ensure they did not leave the state again until the House of Representatives reconvenes on Wednesday morning.
