A Texas Democratic state lawmaker abruptly left a call with Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin and other party leaders on Wednesday after being warned that she could be committing a felony.
“Sorry, I have to leave,” state Rep. Nicole Collier (D) said during the call, interrupting Martin. “They said it’s a felony for me to do this. Apparently I can’t be on the floor or in a bathroom.”
“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” she added to someone off-camera. “No, hold on — bye everybody, I’ve got to go.”
Collier, a seven-term legislator and former chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, was on the call from the Texas Capitol, where the state House was proceeding with a vote on a GOP-favored House map. Democrats had previously left Texas to block the map’s passage but returned earlier this week.
Lawmakers who wished to leave and return to the Capitol between House sessions had to “agree to be released into the custody of a designated DPS officer appointment under the rules of the House,” according to Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows (R). They also had to sign a form pledging to return to the state Legislature.
Collier declined to comply, choosing instead to stay inside the state House in protest, which quickly drew national attention.
“At the moment that the directive was issued, I felt like it was wrong. It’s just wrong to require grown people to get a permission slip to roam about freely,” Collier said in a recent interview on MSNBC. “So I resisted. I objected, in the only way I knew how, and that’s to resist.”
It remains unclear exactly what action constituted a felony, though the episode sparked frustration among Democrats on the call.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called the situation “outrageous,” stating, “Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office.”
“That is outrageous. What they’re trying to do right there, is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman and that is outrageous,” he added.
Other national figures also criticized the restrictions placed on Collier’s participation while in the Capitol bathroom.
“I was just on a press call with @NicoleCollier95, @CoryBooker, and @GavinNewsom,” Martin wrote on X. “Rep. Collier joined us from the TX Capitol. She was ordered to leave the call, and threatened with a felony charge if she didn’t comply. This is an outrageous violation of her freedom of speech.”
