Charges Dropped Against Houston Candidate Arrested at Redistricting Protest

Law enforcement dropped charges against a Houston congressional candidate who was jailed in Austin after being arrested at a public hearing on Thursday for protesting the GOP push to redraw congressional districts.

Isaiah Martin — one of more than two dozen candidates vying for the congressional seat left vacant when U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner died in March — was charged with disrupting a meeting, resisting arrest and criminal trespass, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Martin, 27, was held in the Travis County jail until Friday night, more than 24 hours after he was forcibly removed from a state House redistricting committee hearing where he shouted "Shame!" at lawmakers and ignored the chairman's instructions to quiet down. Several security officers tackled him as he resisted effort to have him removed. He was then taken out of the Capitol.

READ MORE: Texas Republicans kick off redistricting hearings without any new maps

A Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman said Martin was arrested around 7 p.m. after he "refused to obey requests from committee members and subsequent orders from DPS to leave a committee hearing at the Texas State Capitol." The charges were dropped on Friday, according to the Travis County Attorney's Office. It's not clear why.

Martin said in a video posted on X after he was released that Republicans "threw me in jail because I refused to sit idly by as they seek to redistrict our state."

"They did this because I had the audacity to speak up — and you know what, I'm going to continue to have that audacity," Martin said. He appeared at a redistricting hearing in Houston over the weekend, where he received applause from the crowd.

Martin's arrest drew national attention. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, posted video on X of Martin being forcibly removed from the hearing, calling it "shameful."

Martin is a Houston native who worked for Sheila Jackson Lee, the former congresswoman who for decades represented the district he is now running in.

The predominantly Black district is one of several that may be targeted by the rare mid-decade redistricting effort, which President Donald Trump has sought to bolster Republicans's chances of holding Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.

Gov. Greg Abbott added redistricting to the special session agenda after the Trump administration’s Justice Department sent a letter arguing race was illegally used as a factor in deciding the makeup of at least four majority-minority districts represented by Democrats, three of which are in Houston.