Several Texas state House Democrats ripped up the written agreements that allowed them to leave the chamber with a police escort and returned to the House floor Tuesday night, the caucus announced.

Democratic state Representative Nicole Collier spent the night in the Texas Capitol building rather than agree to a police monitor that is part of a contentious partisan struggle over redrawing voting districts to keep the national House of Representatives in Republican hands.

"He lost me on the trail, got angry about it, and made a scene in front of my constituents on the trail," Cole said about the DPS officer assigned to escort her upon her return to Texas.

Republicans in the Texas House forced returning Democrats to around-the-clock surveillance by state Department of Public Safety officers to leave the floor.

A Texas state House Democrat said she was threatened with arrest after an officer assigned to follow her lost track of her on a walking trail. Texas state Rep. Sheryl Cole (D) said Tuesday in a post on social platform X that an escort from the Texas Department of Public Safety — who she

House Speaker Dustin Burrows said Monday that Democrats who previously left the state could not leave the chamber unless they agreed to having a DPS escort. Collier refused one and must remain in the chamber.

Police were on hand to ensure a family of swans crossing a major road completed their journey safely. Essex Police received reports about a pair of adults with four cygnets swanning around on the A131 Regiment Way, Chelmsford.