Photo: Rep. Sheryl Cole/X
Austin Democratic state Rep. Sheryl Cole says a Department of Public Safety (DPS) officer assigned to escort her amid the GOP-led redistricting push threatened to arrest her during her routine morning walk.
On Tuesday (August 19), Cole said she was walking around the Mueller neighborhood when her Republican-mandated police escort “lost [her] on the trail, got angry about it, and made a scene in front of [her] constituents on the trail.”
“While a little shaken up from the incident, 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 said. “This is also why I stand with my colleague [Rep. Nicole Collier], who has refused to go along with this charade and is still on the House floor 24 hours later.”
“We will not be intimidated by this, and history will remember this,” Cole added.
Cole was among the dozens of Texas Democrats who left the state earlier this month to block a Trump-backed redistricting plan aimed at adding five Republican congressional seats before the 2026 midterms. Upon their return on Monday (August 18), Republican House Speaker Dustin Burrows required Democratic lawmakers to sign a “permission slip” agreeing to 24-hour police escorts to ensure their attendance during redistricting votes.
Rep. Nicole Collier (D-Fort Worth) refused to sign the agreement mandating escorts and has been confined to the Capitol for two nights. Other Democrats joined her in protest, including Rep. Mihaela Plesa, who tore up her permission slip on camera, and Rep. Penny Morales Shaw.
“Nicole was right. We should not have submitted to this," Shaw said.
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