Jury deliberations begin in civil trial over 'Trump Train' encounter with Biden-Harris bus in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — A jury in Texas began to deliberate Friday whether the so-called "Trump Train" that surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus days before the 2020 election in a heated highway encounter amounted to political intimidation.
"This case is not about politics," Robert Meyer, an attorney representing those aboard the bus, told the jury. "It's about safety."
The civil trial has spanned two weeks in a federal courthouse in Austin has included testimony from former Texas Democratic lawmaker Wendy Davis, who ran for governor in 2014, and is one of three people who was on board the bus and brought the lawsuit against six supporters of former President Donald Trump.
No criminal charges have been filed against the Trump supporters, who have argued that their actions during the convoy on Oct. 30, 2020, were protected speech.
Video that Davis recorded from the bus shows pickup trucks with large Trump flags slowing down to box in the bus as it tried to move away from the group of Trump supporters. One of the defendants 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.
During closing arguments Friday, Meyer argued that the defendants' conversations leading up to the convoy about "Operation Block the Bus," dissemination of flyers and aggressive driving met the criteria for political intimidation. Jurors also listened to several 911 calls from bystanders who were fearful that the convoy would cause a collision.
"This wasn't some kind of peaceful protest," Meyer said. "The bus swarmed on all sides."
Attorneys for the defendants argued they did not intend to hurt anyone or scheme a plan for Democrats to cancel their remaining campaign events in Texas.
From Gazette news services
