What happened
A federal jury in Texas yesterday cleared five of six defendants in a civil lawsuit accusing them of violating federal law by boxing in a Joe Biden campaign bus as it drove up I-35 in October 2020, forcing the bus to a crawl and the campaign to cancel events in San Marcos and Austin. The sixth "Trump Train" defendant, Eliazar Cisneros, was found liable of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871. He was ordered to pay $10,000 in compensatory damages to the bus driver and $30,000 in punitive damages to the plaintiffs.
Who said what
The plaintiffs, including bus driver Timothy Holloway and former Texas lawmaker Wendy Davis (D), argued that the six drivers in the caravan of trucks waving Donald Trump flags conspired to intimidate the Biden surrogates to curb their political activities. The defendants said they were just exercising their free-speech rights when they surrounded the bus on the interstate. Cisneros was filmed side-swiping a Biden campaign volunteer's SUV.
"Both plaintiffs and defendants claimed Monday's verdict as a victory," The Texas Tribune said. Holloway called it a "very good outcome" that hopefully "discourages people from doing things in the name of politics that endanger lives," and shows "there are legal consequences for perpetrators of threats and intimidation."
What next?
The case, "even with its mixed result," could be used as a "road map" for those "weighing KKK Act claims, especially in challenges seeking to punish Trump supporters," CNN said. A lawyer for Cisneros said they would appeal the verdict to the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
A postapocalyptic trip to Sin City, a peek inside Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour, and an explicit hockey romance in December TVthe week recommends This month’s new television releases include ‘Fallout,’ ‘Taylor Swift: The End Of An Era’ and ‘Heated Rivalry’
-
‘These accounts clearly are designed as a capitalist alternative’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump tightens restrictions for work visasSpeed Read The length of work permits for asylum seekers and refugees has been shortened from five years to 18 months
-
‘These accounts clearly are designed as a capitalist alternative’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Is a Putin-Modi love-in a worry for the West?Today’s Big Question The Indian leader is walking a ‘tightrope’ between Russia and the United States
-
Trump pardons Texas Democratic congressmanspeed read Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico
-
‘It is their greed and the pollution from their products that hurt consumers’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
‘It’s critical that Congress get involved’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
