August 19, 2025.

Yesterday, the 51 Democratic Texas State Representatives

who left the state for Illinois, New York,

and Massachusetts on August 3rd to prevent Republican lawmakers

from redistricting Texas

to give five Democratic congressional seats to Republicans went back home.

Immediately, they discovered that Republican House Speaker Dustin Burroughs wanted them to sign

a statement that committed them to showing up for the Wednesday morning vote on the rigged maps President Donald Trump demands,

limiting their liberty until they enabled the Republicans' power grab.

Burroughs also assigned state troopers to the Democrats to monitor their movements around the clock

to make sure they were present Wednesday morning

and until the final vote on the measure.

Refusal to sign the commitment meant risking arrest.

Representative Nicole Collier,

a black woman who represents a majority minority district

in Fort Worth, refused to sign.

As Joe Summerlad of the Independent reported,

Collier said,

I refuse to sign.

I will not agree to be in custody.

I'm not a criminal.

I'm exercising my right to resist and oppose the decisions of our government. So this is my form of protest.

...