One of the dozens of Texas Democrats who fled the state to block the passage of GOP-backed election security bills appeared to compare Gov. Greg Abbott‘s threat to have them arrested upon their return to the pursuit of escaped slaves prior to 1863.
Abbott, a Republican, previously threatened to arrest the roughly 60 Democratic lawmakers who fled the Lone Star State to Washington, D.C., on July 12. On Friday, State Rep. Senfronia Thompson shot back, saying, “I’m ready to be arrested” and asking, “What do you do to a slave if you don’t do nothing but arrest them when they flee?”
The state senator spoke in Alexandria, Virginia, making a declaration that her caucus “refuse[s] to be a hostage.”
Democratic lawmakers from the state lobbed attacks against the Texas governor last week for his demands for liberals to return and support the voting bill, which aims to enhance voter identification requirements and limit 24-hour voting. Since they left, the protesting lawmakers have bragged about their “fugitive” status and boasted about their absence from the Texas state Capitol on social media.
BREAKING DOWN THE TEXAS VOTING BILL THAT DEMOCRATS FLED THE STATE TO BLOCK
When it comes to the institutional knowledge of how far voting rights have come in Texas, we are blessed to know that @Senfronia4Texas has been a guiding light for communities once overlooked and shut out by those who controlled access to the ballot box. #txlege pic.twitter.com/jU61tojQCL
— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) July 16, 2021
The Democrats have spent their extended protest in the nation’s capital this month speaking with Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democratic lawmakers in Congress to push for the passage of two stalled federal election reform bills.
Texas House Democrats will not return to the state until the special session of the Legislature is over. State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer said the group of Democratic lawmakers plans to return to the Lone Star State on Aug. 7.
In recent days, their efforts to promote voting rights have been overshadowed by at least six COVID-19 infections cropping among the circle of Texas Democrats, who were seen on a charter plane before landing in Washington without wearing masks, a measure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises as a standard requirement for airlines and other travel vessels.
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The Washington Examiner contacted Abbott’s office but did not immediately receive a comment.
