Wendy Davis, Others Sue 'Trump Train' Bunch for Surrounding Biden Bus on Highway
Wendy Davis and others on board a Joe Biden campaign bus last year when it was surrounded and followed by former President Donald Trump supporters filed two federal lawsuits on Thursday.
The first targets seven individual drivers who were allegedly part of the so-called "Trump Train" that tailed the campaign bus on I-35 in Texas on Oct. 30, 2020. The plaintiffs are Davis, a former Texas state senator; Eric Cervini, a historian; David Gins, a White House staffer; and Timothy Halloway, the driver of the Biden campaign bus.
The suit alleges the "Trump Train" group violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 as well as Texas law by planning a "politically-motivated conspiracy to disrupt the campaign and intimidate its supporters."
Court documents allege the seven defendants "terrorized and menaced" the Biden bus for 90 minutes, tried to run them off the road and played a "madcap game of highway 'chicken'" by coming within inches of the bus—all while live-streaming their behavior on social media.
The plaintiffs, the documents said, suffer ongoing psychological and emotional injury. Holloway, the driver, said he found himself unable to drive a bus following the incident.
"Defendants can and must be held accountable for their acts of political intimidation," the lawsuit reads. "This lawsuit seeks to enforce that accountability."
The FBI confirmed in November it was investigating the highway confrontation.
At the time, Trump tweeted a video of the Trump supporters following the Biden bus with the caption: "I LOVE TEXAS!"
The second lawsuit was filed against law enforcement officials who they say abdicated their responsibility as officers by not stepping in to stop the incident. The defendants are Chase Stapp, the head of San Marcos' director of public safety, and two unnamed members from the San Marcos Police Department and San Marcos City Marshal's Department.
"Despite repeated calls for help, they refused or failed to respond when dozens of individuals in at least 40 vehicles formed a self-labeled 'Trump Train' with the express purpose of terrorizing and intimidating a group campaigning for then-Democratic Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris," the lawsuit reads.
The San Marcos police said in October police received a call from the Biden campaign bus requesting a police escort, but authorities weren't able to catch up to the bus before it exited their jurisdiction.
The plaintiffs are being represented by lawyers with the advocacy groups Protect Democracy and the Texas Civil Rights Project, and the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
"Political violence is toxic to the foundations of our democracy. To have a functioning democracy, elections must be won based on the strength of a party's ideas at the ballot box, not the strength of their militias in the streets," John Paredes, counsel at Protect Democracy, said in a statement.
Stapp told Newsweek he is aware of the lawsuit, but it's the city's policy to refrain from commenting on pending litigation.
