About a 150 demonstrators were moved off the grounds of the Texas Capitol Tuesday evening amid growing protests of the plan to redraw the state's congressional map during a special session of the Legislature.
The demonstrators, many carrying handmade signs, spent much of Tuesday inside the building demanding that Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier be allowed to leave the grounds without a Texas Department of Public Safety officer shadowing her whereabouts. The Fort Worth lawmaker had declined on Monday to submit to the outside monitoring put in place by House Speaker Dustin Burrows.
The NBC affiliate KXAN reported that DPS had received report of a “concerning post on social media” ahead of the partial evacuation.
A Hearst Newspapers photographer documenting the demonstration said the Capitol was cleared of most of its occupants around 7 p.m. Then, the protestors who had planned to use the Capitol grounds as their forum were ordered down the wide path known as the Great Walk and outside of the property's south gate.
While the demonstrators continued their protest, Collier and some of her colleagues who had joined her in detention remained in the House chamber. A handful of Democrats and their staff members were also inside the building, but free to leave, according to a staff member with them who requested anonymity to speak publicly.
The House is expected to debate and vote on the redistricting measure on Wednesday.
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