Texas legislator posts video of police arriving to arrest her

Move comes as Democrats flee state to halt business in the legislature

Texas Rep Shawn Thierry on board a plane to Washington, DC after fleeing the state with other Democrats to halt business in the legislature over voter suppression bills. (Instagram - Shawn Thierry)

A Texas state legislator had her office visited by an officer with a state law enforcement agency after she and other Democrats refused to come to the state House floor for votes on two voting restriction bills being pursued by Republicans.

Video posted on Twitter by state Rep Shawn Thierry showed the officer with the Department of Public Safety arriving at her office alongside a sergeant-at-arms for the state House to compel her into custody.

Ms Thierry, however, had already left the state along with other Democrats in the state legislature who have come to Washington DC to pressure Congress to act and protect voting rights at the federal level.

In a subsequent Instagram post, Ms Thierry added that while she had not been on the same flights as many of her colleagues out of Austin, she had managed to leave before law enforcement arrived.

“I made sure that I left the state in time to prevent the Governor from arresting me and forcing me to return to the Capitol building. We are pulling out every tool in the toolkit to stop the most discriminatory piece of voter legislation we have seen in decades,” wrote Ms Thierry.

So, shortly after the Call on the House was placed — this happened... A House Sergeant entered my office along with a Texas DPS trooper seeking to apprehend me and lock me in the House chamber. @CNN @MSNBC #txlege #LetThePeopleVote pic.twitter.com/BFPqRQeAGD

— Shawn Thierry (@RepThierry146) July 13, 2021

A number of her colleagues met on Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who expressed his support for the legislators and their effort, while Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to meet with the group as well.

President Joe Biden gave a speech on the issue of voting rights in Philadelphia on Tuesday as the drama unfolded, denouncing a GOP-led wave of voting restriction bills passed and under consideration around the country.

During the address, he referred to the efforts of Republicans as a “21st century Jim Crow assault,” and vowed to opposed them by doubling the size of the voting rights division at the Justice Department.