1 of 6 'Trump Train' drivers liable in Biden bus blockade

The defendants boxed 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

(Image credit: Sergio Flores / Bloomberg via Getty Images )

By Peter Weber, The Week US

published 24 September 2024

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.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.