Texas jury clears all but 1 over "Trump Train" surrounding of 2020 Biden bus
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A 2020 Biden campaign bus. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A federal jury cleared all but one of six Trump supporters accused in a civil trial over the surrounding of a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a Texas highway days before the 2020 election.
Why it matters: The defendants were accused in the lawsuit of violations including of the Civil War-era 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which aims to provide protections against political threats or violence, over the "Trump Train" confrontation along I-35 between San Antonio and Austin.
- Following a two-week trial, Eliazar Cisneros, a chef and Navy veteran, was the only one of the accused to be found liable in the U.S. District Court case concerning a caravan of cars and trucks that slowed the Biden campaign bus to a crawl.
The big picture: None of the defendants faced criminal charges over the Oct. 30, 2020, incident.
- They maintained that they were conducting a "peaceful protest" that was protected under the First Amendment and "never intended to intimidate or threaten" the campaign, per CNN.
- However, Cisneros was found liable for using threats and intimidation toward plaintiffs former state Sen. Wendy Davis, ex-Biden campaign staffer David Gins and bus driver Timothy Holloway. His lawyer indicated Monday that Cisneros will file an appeal.
- The jury found that Cisneros should pay $30,000 in punitive damages to the three plaintiffs and $10,000 in compensatory damages to Holloway.
What they're saying: Protect Democracy, one of the groups that brought the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, described Cisneros in an emailed statement Monday as "lead organizer of the 'Trump Train.'"
- The nonprofit hailed Cisneros' conviction as "a major victory for American civil rights, reaffirming that all citizens are protected against politically motivated threats, intimidation, and force."
What we're watching: A lawyer for Joeylynn Mesaros, one of the defendants cleared in the case, said they would ask the court to ensure that the plaintiffs covered their legal fees, which the Texas Tribune reports were estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.
- The plaintiffs' legal team in an emailed statement said the "court has already ruled against them repeatedly on the law" and noted the jury had found their co-defendant liable.
- "Any petition for attorneys' fees would be frivolous," added the statement from Protect Democracy counsel John Paredes, Texas Civil Rights Project attorney Christina Beeler and Samuel Hall, a partner with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Zoom out: Two other "Trump Train" defendants last year publicly apologized and privately settled the case.
- The City of San Marcos in 2023 paid the plaintiffs $175,000 in a separate settlement that did not admit wrongdoing. The city said in a statement at the time that the police "response did not reflect the Department's high standards for conduct and attention to duty."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details from the case and further context.
