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Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier disconnected a private call with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders on Wednesday, reportedly telling the group she had been informed it was a felony to join the call while inside the Texas Capitol.

Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and other party leaders held the video call as members of the Texas House of Representatives were gathered in the Capitol to debate a redistricting bill pushed by former President Donald Trump. During her remarks, Collier told the group the proposed map weakened the Voting Rights Act and would dilute the political power of minority communities to elect candidates of their choice.

“This bill is going to prevent Black and brown individuals from being able to elect candidates of their choice because these individuals are cracking and packing these communities to keep us from being able to elect the candidate of our choice,” Collier said in her remarks on the call.

“We passed our redistricting map, which strengthens the Voting Rights Act in our state,” Martin said during his remarks on the call. “But this one, this map they are working on, clearly runs roughshod over the Voting Rights Act.”

Collier said she needed to leave the call while Martin was in the middle of a sentence, roughly 30 minutes into the discussion. “Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” Collier told the group. “I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom,” she added before addressing someone off-camera.

“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said to the unidentified person. After quickly saying goodbye to the group, she added, “No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go.” Collier then dropped off the call.

Newsom and Martin expressed shock over the abrupt nature of Collier’s departure. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker called the situation “outrageous” and complimented Collier for her efforts. “Let me tell you something, Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office,” Booker said.

Booker nodded in agreement and said, “They’re trying to do something crazy. What they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman, and that is outrageous.” Booker added, “What we just witnessed, them trying to shut her down and saying it’s illegal for her to be in the bathroom and on this call, this is the lengths that they’re going to in Texas.”

Democrats, Republicans Battle Over Redistricting Maps

The incident over the weekend came during one of the most vicious redistricting battles to take place in the U.S. As many as 50 Democratic members of the Texas House of Representatives had fled the state two weeks before prevent Republicans from being able to call a quorum to pass their map. The temporary walkout prevented the legislature from passing the bill, but the tactic drew the ire of Republican leaders in Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott and other state GOP leaders had ordered law enforcement to arrest the members of the House Democratic Caucus who refused to return to the Capitol. Abbott also announced in his weekly press conference last week that members who fled the state for the previous two weeks would be removed from office if they did not return to Austin for the session.

Members of the caucus returned to Austin in the coming weeks, but the atmosphere inside the state Capitol had changed in the meantime. In addition to members being under orders from Abbott not to leave the Capitol complex without permission from law enforcement, the Texas Department of Public Safety added layer of security for members, according to lawmakers.

Officers were assigned to shadow members of the House Democratic Caucus during their time in Austin. Many members reported that their office doors or floors were guarded by DPS officers. The presence of additional officers even prompted some lawmakers to report they had to sign “permission slips” to leave the Capitol as part of the effort to prevent members from breaking quorum again.

The redistricting bill itself, according to voting rights advocates, would add as many as five Republican congressional seats in the Lone Star State. In a retaliatory effort, Democrats in California announced they would create their redistricting map to counteract the GOP’s effort. Newsom and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced last week a new congressional map in the Golden State that would effectively eliminate as many as five Republican congressional seats in California.

The new map was released by the California Independent Redistricting Commission on Friday, illustrating how Democrats are looking to reshape political representation on the West Coast to essentially nullify potential Republican gains made in Texas.

As both parties look at the prospect of taking control of Congress in the coming election cycle, the potential of gaining an additional seat on either coast could hold incredible value. For Democrats in particular, the situation in Texas has helped galvanize activists to action over voting rights issues and the potential for state lawmakers to use gerrymandering as a political cudgel against the party.

For now, the image of Collier disconnecting on her leaders from a Capitol bathroom after being told her actions were criminal remains an indelible moment in the fight for Texas’s next redistricting plan.