Why Texas Democrat Nicole Collier is sleeping at the state Capitol after refusing to submit to Republican demands

Texas Democrat Nicole Collier made headlines earlier this month when she, along with dozens of her colleagues, refused to come to the state Capitol as part of an effort to block Republicans from passing new congressional maps. Now, a day after returning to the Legislature, Collier is drawing attention because she won’t leave.

The 52-year-old native Texan, who represents parts of Fort Worth in the Texas House of Representatives, slept in the House chamber Monday night after refusing to accept a police escort that Republicans had required as a stipulation for being allowed to exit the building. All other Democrats conceded to the rule. Collier did not.

“When I heard the order, I was like, ‘Hell, no.’ Why should we bow down to what they want?” she said in a video from inside the chamber posted by Texas House Minority Leader Gene Wu on Monday night.

Wu and Democratic Rep. Vince Perez joined Collier as a show of solidarity in sleeping at the Capitol overnight, despite being free to leave if they chose to.

“This is civil disobedience, right? What we’re doing right now,” Wu said. “Everybody can find their own way to do this. Don’t get yourself in trouble maybe, but good trouble.”

On Tuesday morning, Collier posted an image of herself resting in an office chair with her feet propped up and a sleep mask on her face, along with the caption “This was my night, bonnet and all.” Wu and Perez had similar sleeping arrangements, she said.

Collier has asked a judge to intervene to end what she calls her “detention” at the hands of Republican House leadership. A handful of Democratic supporters were arrested outside the House chamber Monday night for refusing to leave in protest of the restrictions that had been imposed on Collier.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Republican, released a statement saying that Collier is “well within her rights” to remain inside the Capitol if she continues to decline a police escort, but said he would spend his time focusing on other issues that “Texans care about.”

Collier, Wu and Perez were among the dozens of Democrats who left Texas earlier this month in order to prevent Republicans from being able to consider a new redistricting plan that could secure the GOP up to five more seats in Congress in next year’s midterms. They successfully kept the House from meeting for two weeks, but chose to return to the state in order to prepare for a court battle over what they argue are illegally gerrymandered maps. They were back at the Capitol on Monday, which allowed the House to meet briefly before adjourning with a plan to reconvene on Wednesday.

One Democrat who did accept the police escort, Rep. Sheryl Cole, said that the officer assigned to follow her around threatened to arrest her and “made a scene” after losing track of her during her morning walk.

“I remain undeterred by this intimidation tactic by House Republicans to have a 24/7 state police presence to intimidate me and my colleagues,” she wrote on social media Tuesday. This is also why I stand with my colleague [Nicole Collier], who has refused to go along with this charade.”

On Tuesday afternoon, several more Democrats announced that they had changed their minds about submitting to police escorts and would be joining Collier in the House chamber overnight.

“I was wrong. She was right. I’m with Nicole,” Rep. Morales Shaw said told reporters. “There is no legal basis … for what is being done.”

Texas House Democrats have been running a livestream of the House floor since early Tuesday morning. Collier, Wu and the rest of the Democrats reportedly intend to remain in the chamber until the House session resumes. The GOP's redistricting plan is expected to be the only bill that will be brought up for a vote on Wednesday.