FORT WORTH, Texas — Tarrant County faith leaders along with city and county officials rallied in downtown Fort Worth on Tuesday in support of State Rep. Nicole Collier.

The gathering comes a day after Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, was confined to the Texas State Capitol for not agreeing in writing to supervision by officers from Texas Department of Public Safety.

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows required the permission slips for lawmakers who’d broken quorum in protest of a move by Republicans to redraw congressional districts in their favor ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Collier is being treated like a runaway slave, said Tarrant County Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons.

“Let her go!” Simmons said as members of the roughly 30 people gathered shouted ‘free Nicole.’

Fort Worth Pastor Dr. Michael Bell, who organized a press conference ahead of the rally, called Collier’s confinement a “hostage taking” and demanded she be released.

Bell said Collier being barred from leaving the Texas Capitol building was part of an old playbook of silencing voices who speak truth to power.

He framed it in the broader struggle for civil rights dating back to the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and Civil Rights Movements of the 1960’s.

“Representative Collier’s detention is the alarm. It is the five-alarm wake-up call that the struggle continues,” Bell said.

He was joined by Fort Worth District 8 City Councilmember Chris Nettles, who called on residents to speak up and call their representatives to demand Collier’s release.

“We must be loud, and we must also contribute where money is needed for our representatives,” Nettles said.

Former Congressman, senatorial, gubernatorial and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke had been fundraising to pay the fines and expenses of the quorum-breaking state lawmakers, but those efforts were halted by Tarrant County District Court Judge Megan Fahey.

“I for one am sick of this (stuff),” said District 9 councilmember Elizabeth Beck.

In addition to the situation with Collier, Beck referenced Tarrant County’s move to reduce polling locations, the state redistricting effort, and the City of Fort Worth’s vote to end diversity programs.

“They know they can’t win without rigging the game, and they have chosen to rig that game on the backs of our minority communities in Tarrant County, in Texas and across this nation,” she said.

Beck called on those gathered to hold their elected officials accountable through voting and showing up to public meetings.

Collier was one of 52 House Democrats who broke quorum to block mid-decade congressional redistricting. Opponents of the redistricting effort have argued it will disenfranchise voters and artificially give Republicans five extra seats in Congress.

Burrows argued police supervision was necessary to ensure the quorum-breaking lawmakers would return to chamber when the House reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

However, Collier refused to sign the agreement telling the Star-Telegram in a text message she was not free to leave the Capitol and would stay in the chamber until the Wednesday session if necessary.

She also told a reporter with NBC news she was allowed to leave the chamber to go to her office, but not allowed to leave the Capitol building without police escort.

“I refuse to sign away my dignity as a duly elected representative just so Republicans can control my movements and monitor me with police escorts,” Collier said in a statement released by House Democrats.

Burrows said in a statement that Collier’s choice not to sign the agreement consented to a police escort is within her rights under the House’s rules. He also noted Collier voted for those rules, which give the House Speaker power to set the conditions for lawmakers’ release.

Bell shot back that Burrows was essentially asking Collier to consent to house arrest.

“They may as well have put an electronic monitor on her ankle,” Bell said.

Collier hasn’t committed a crime, and is only guilty of standing up for her constituents, he said.

Collier represents House District 95, which includes Edgecliff Village, Everman, Forest Hill and part of Fort Worth. She first took office in 2013 and is a former chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.

Tarrant County’s other three Democratic state lawmakers were permitted to leave the Capitol with DPS monitoring.

Collier filed a petition late Monday afternoon asking a Travis County judge to rule she’s allowed to leave the Capitol.

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