Texas state lawmakers in Illinois evacuated from their hotel after threat
The legislators of the Democratic States of Texas were evacuated from their suburbs of Chicago on Wednesday morning following a threat to the property, and a press conference planned to present the Democratic Senator Dick Durbin was canceled.
Later in the morning, Governor JB Pritzker authorized the State of the Illinois State to get involved in the protection of the legislators.
“I am aware of the information according to which threats have been made against elected officials in Texas in our state. Threats of violence will be the subject of an investigation and the managers will be held responsible,” said Pritzker on X. “I asked @statepolice to guarantee public security.”
Durbin was to join the democratic voices of Illinois who gathered behind the Democrats of Texas, who went to the state in order to block the adoption of a new map of the drawn congress. Because the members are absent, the Texas State House has no quorum to move forward with the legislation.
The public announcement system inside the hotel published an evacuation directive around 7:15 a.m. local time, and legislators and staff rushed outside, according to one of the people inside.
“This morning, a threat was made against the security of the members of Texas House Democratic Caucus,” three Democrats in the Texas State Chamber in a statement said. “We are safe, we are safe and we are not discouraged and unimidated. We are grateful to Governor Pritzker, local and state police for their rapid action to ensure our security. ”
In an interview with NBC News, State representative John Bucy said that legislators and other guests had spent about two hours outside the hotel on Wednesday morning and said they were “going to continue to fight for this voting rights”.
According to the Police Service of St. Charles, around 400 people were evacuated. Kane’s County Bomb team was invited to help, and the police said that no device had been found during a search. The investigation continues, according to the police.
Democratic legislators left Texas for Chicago, Boston and Albany, New York, on Sunday, after the Texas State Legislative Assembly began a special session aiming, among other things, to draw a new Congress map giving Republicans a path to a gain of five seats in mid-term elections of 2026.
The Republicans protect a close majority of three places in the room in front of the mid-term.
Bucy told NBC News that Democratic legislators did not plan to return to Texas as soon as possible.
“Listen, we are committed to killing this special session,” he said. “”
