Supporters of former President Donald Trump who were part of the so-called “Trump Train” that surrounded a Biden campaign bus on a Texas highway the weekend before the election last fall have been sued in federal court.
Civil rights organizations and others — including the bus driver, a current White House staffer, a former Texas lawmaker and a campaign volunteer — claim the hostile episode left them traumatized and violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which bars violent election intimidation.
Two federal lawsuits filed Thursday in the Western District of Texas also include allegations that local law enforcement failed to respond and provide protection during the incident that Trump later defended on Twitter, saying “these patriots did nothing wrong.”
The Oct. 30 incident led Democrats to cancel a campaign event the same day, and the FBI opened an investigation.
“We were terrified,” said Timothy Holloway, who was behind the wheel of the Biden-Harris campaign bus. “They were clearly trying to scare us and prevent us from arriving at our destination in peace.”
Video of the incident, widely shared on social media, showed a scene reminiscent of the movie “Mad Max,” with a group of cars and pickups — many adorned with large Trump flags — intentionally boxing in the campaign bus as it traveled from San Antonio to Austin.
At one point, the video showed the bus surrounded on all four sides as it traveled full speed along Interstate 35, when one of the pickups collided with an SUV that was directly behind the bus.
Specifics of the lawsuits
The two lawsuits, filed by Protect Democracy, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher, include former Texas Sen. Wendy Davis — a Democrat who attracted national attention for her 13-hour filibuster of an anti-abortion bill in the state Capitol — who was on the campaign bus that day.
“I really worry about the opportunity — if things like these go unaddressed — for this to be considered the new normal,” Davis said Thursday during a news conference.
One complaint alleges seven drivers involved in the so-called “Trump Train” violated an 1871 federal law often called the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” originally designed to stop political violence against Black people. The lawsuit accuses the group of participating in a “pre-planned vehicular assault” against the Biden-Harris caravan while driving through the college town of San Marcos. The Ku Klux Klan Act has also been cited in some injury lawsuits following the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, advocates said Thursday.
“Those who engage in organized threats — whether they’re online death threats or mob violence — are breaking the law and will be called to account for their actions in federal court,” Michael Gottlieb, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a news release.
Holloway, who drove the Biden bus, said during the news conference that about 20 minutes after leaving San Antonio, he noticed some Trump-marked vehicles began to follow him and others tried to slow him down. He said he tried to focus on driving but that he feared for his life, especially when local law enforcement was called but didn’t respond.
“I wasn’t around for the civil rights era, but what happened in Texas felt like something that could have happened back then,” said Holloway, who is Black.
Another complaint was filed against San Marcos law enforcement and public safety officials and staff, who “turned a blind eye to the attack, despite pleas for help.”
A spokeswoman for the city of San Marcos told The Associated Press in an emailed statement that “due to pending litigation, neither the City of San Marcos nor the San Marcos Police Department will be providing a comment on this matter.”
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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