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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal jury in Texas on Monday rejected voter intimidation allegations against all but one of a group of former President Donald Trump supporters who surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on an interstate days before the 2020 election.
Only one of the six Trump supporters who were sued in the civil trial was held responsible by the jury. A Texas man whose car brushed up against another as the caravan of vehicles dubbed the “Trump Train” raced down Interstate 35, was ordered to pay the bus driver $10,000 and another $30,000 in punitive damages.
Both sides declared victory at the end of a two-week trial in an Austin courthouse. The five Trump supporters cleared in the lawsuit — which was brought by three people aboard the campaign bus, including former Texas Democratic lawmaker Wendy Davis — described the verdict as vindicating and a relief.
“We’re just ready to feel like normal people again,” said Joeylynn Mesaros, one of the defendants, who described being harassed for participating in the ‘Trump Train.’ “It’s been a thousand something days to have our day in court.”
Attorneys for those aboard the bus said justice was served, even as they disagreed with the jury’s decision to clear five of the defendants.
“When I came to this case it was never about politics that day. I’m grateful, I’m proud of my team,” said Tim Holloway, who was behind the wheel of the campaign bus on Oct. 30, 2020.
The Biden-Harris campaign bus was traveling from San Antonio to Austin for an event when a group of cars and pickup trucks waving Trump flags boxed in the bus on the highway. Davis testified she feared for her life.
Video that Davis recorded from the bus shows one of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, hit a campaign volunteer’s car while the trucks occupied all lanes of traffic, forcing the bus and everyone around it to a 15 mph crawl.
It was the last day of early voting in Texas and the bus was scheduled to stop at San Marcos for an event at Texas State University. The event was canceled after Davis and others on the bus — a campaign staffer and the driver — made repeated calls to 911 asking for a police escort through San Marcos and no help arrived.
The trial centered on whether the actions of the “Trump Train” participants amounted to political intimidation.
No criminal charges were filed against the six Trump supporters.
An attorney for Cisneros, the only member of the convoy who the jury found liable, said they would appeal.
“With regard to my client, it’s not over yet,” attorney Francisco Canseco said.
Davis testified that she felt scared and anxious throughout the ordeal. “I feel like they were enjoying making us afraid,” she testified. “It’s traumatic for all of us to revisit that day.”
Nadia Lathan, The Associated Press