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Texas Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier ended a private call she was on with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders this week, explaining that she was told it would be a felony to participate in the call while she was at the Texas Capitol.

The bizarre moment, captured in video, came as Democrats were gathering to condemn Texas’s new redistricting bill, which the party claims runs afoul of federal voting protections.

Collier was on a video conference with Newsom, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, and other Democratic leaders when the Texas House of Representatives was also holding a floor debate over a Trump-backed redistricting bill.

While on the call, Collier said the map currently under discussion in Texas will gut the Voting Rights Act and make it harder for minority communities to elect their preferred candidates.

“This bill will prevent Black and brown individuals from selecting the candidates of their choice because they’re cracking and packing these districts,” Collier said.

About 30 minutes into the call, Collier ended the conference while Martin was speaking to tell the group that she needed to leave. “Sorry, I have to leave. They said it’s a felony for me to do this,” she said, speaking to the camera, according to Politico.

“I have to leave. Sorry,” Collier said, before telling someone off-camera, “Apparently, I can’t be on the floor or in the bathroom.”

“You told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom,” Collier said. She then turned back to the camera, explaining: “No, hang on. Bye everybody. I’ve got to go.” She then walked off-camera and disconnected.

The abrupt move left the room stunned, with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker immediately speaking up and demanding to know why Collier had been forced to leave.

“What the hell is going on?” Booker asked. “This is outrageous, my God.”

Booker then added that he was proud of Collier for not backing down in the face of threats. “Let me tell you something, Rep. Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office,” Booker said, as Gov. Gavin Newsom nodded in agreement.

Booker then continued, framing the decision to force Collier off the call as an attack on a Black woman leader. “What they’re trying to do right there is silence an American leader, silence a Black woman, and that is outrageous,” he said.

“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,” Booker continued. “This is madness.”

Democrats: Texas Republican Redistricting Map Could Add 5 GOP Congressional Seats

The moment was the latest escalation of one of the most heated redistricting battles in the country. Dozens of Democrats in the Texas House had fled the state in protest over two weeks, to deny Republicans a quorum and halt the redistricting vote.

In response, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the absent Democrats to be arrested and threatened to kick them out of office if they did not return to the Capitol in Austin.

When the absent lawmakers did return to Texas in late July, Democratic members reported the atmosphere at the Capitol had changed. Multiple members said Texas Department of Public Safety officers were now assigned to them and their offices, sometimes guarding their offices or trailing them in the building.

Some members even reported that they were having to sign “permission slips” if they left the Capitol as part of the new security protocols to prevent Democrats from fleeing again and breaking quorum.

Texas’ redistricting bill could add up to five new Republican congressional seats. Democrats have argued the new map would entrench GOP power for the next decade.

To counter that, California Democrats this week announced their redistricting proposal. Newsom, working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), announced a new congressional map for California that would essentially erase five Republican seats, canceling out potential GOP gains from Texas.

The new map was made public on Friday, showing the new lines Democrats would likely draw on the West Coast to offset potential Republican gains in Texas.

The whole fight has shone a light on the extent to which redistricting battles in one state are increasingly playing out on a national scale. Control of Congress is on the line in next year’s midterm elections, and each new district in a state will factor into how Democrats and Republicans shape up. In particular, the Texas fight has provided a rallying point for Democrats around voting rights concerns.