AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A federal jury in Texas ruled Monday that former Donald Trump surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on an interstate in the days before the 2020 election. Voter intimidation charges against all but one of the president’s supporters were dismissed.
Of the six Trump supporters sued in civil court, only one was found liable by a jury. A Texas man who collided with a car as a caravan of vehicles known as the “Trump Train” sped down Interstate 35 was fined the bus driver $10,000 and an additional $30,000. ordered to pay damages.
At the end of a two-week trial in an Austin courthouse, both sides declared victory. The five Trump supporters who were acquitted in the case brought by three campaign bus passengers, including former Texas Democratic Rep. Wendy Davis, said they were relieved and said the verdict was vindicated.
One of the defendants, Joeylin Meszaros, said she had been harassed for joining the “Trump Train” and said, “We are just ready to feel like normal people again.” “It’s been thousands of days that we’ve spent in court.”
Lawyers for those on the bus disagreed with the jury’s decision to acquit five of the defendants, but said justice had been served.
“When I got involved in this case, the topic of the day was never about politics. I’m grateful and proud of my team,” said a campaign bus handler on October 30, 2020. said Tim Holloway, who was holding the .
The Biden-Harris campaign bus was heading from San Antonio to Austin for an event when a group of cars and pickup trucks waving Trump flags boarded the bus. Davis testified that she feared for her life.
Video recorded by Davis from the bus shows one of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, a campaign volunteer, as the truck took over all lanes, forcing the bus and everyone around it to drive at 15 mph. The video shows him colliding with a car.
It was the last day of early voting in Texas, and the bus was scheduled to stop in San Marcos for an event at Texas State University. The event prompted Davis and others on the bus (campaign staff and the driver) to repeatedly call 911 and request a police escort through San Marcos, but no help came. Therefore, it was canceled.
The trial focused on whether the actions of the Trump Train participants amounted to political intimidation.
Six Trump supporters were not criminally charged.
Lawyers for Mr. Cisneros, the only member of the convoy found liable by a jury, said he planned to appeal.
“For my client, it’s not over yet,” said attorney Francisco Canseco.
Davis testified that she felt scared and anxious throughout the ordeal. “I feel like they enjoyed scaring us,” she testified. “Remembering that day is traumatic for all of us.”
