In a case that has captured national attention, a Texas jury began deliberations Friday on whether a convoy of Trump supporters surrounding a Biden-Harris campaign bus in the days leading up to the 2020 election amounted to political intimidation.
The incident, often referred to as the “Trump Train,” took place on October 30, 2020, and is now the subject of a civil trial in federal court in Austin.
Attorney Robert Meyer, representing those on the Biden bus, told the jury that the issue is fundamentally about safety, not political leanings.
However, with political tensions running high across the country during the final stretch of the 2020 election, this case inevitably taps into those deep divisions.
The two-week trial has included testimony from Wendy Davis, a former Texas state senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate.
Davis was one of three individuals on the Biden-Harris campaign bus who filed the lawsuit against six Trump supporters involved in the convoy.
She testified that the group’s aggressive driving and attempts to box in the bus were a clear effort to intimidate and suppress Democratic voters in the state.
No criminal charges have been filed against the defendants, who argue that their actions were a form of political expression protected by the First Amendment.
Attorney Francisco Canseco, representing one of the Trump supporters, contended that while the convoy may have been disruptive, there was no intent to cause harm.
In fact, the defense has emphasized that none of the defendants engaged in any coordinated plan to injure or intimidate anyone.
Canseco stated, “There was no civil assault because there was no intent to hurt anybody.”
The jury will be tasked with deciding whether the actions of the Trump supporters crossed the line from free speech into unlawful intimidation.
The plaintiffs argue that conversations leading up to the event, as well as aggressive driving and the blocking of the bus on a busy Texas highway, amounted to a concerted effort to silence the Biden campaign.
The defense, however, pushed back on the idea that the convoy was organized as an attack. Canseco argued that the Trump supporters were merely exercising their right to assemble and show their support for then-President Donald Trump.
The defense’s position is that while the tactics may have been aggressive, they were not meant to harm or intimidate anyone.
Tensions outside the courtroom have also flared. On Friday, a gallery member had to be escorted out after an argument broke out, highlighting just how divisive this trial has become.
C’mon! If the roles were reversed, and Dems did the intimidating, you wouldn’t have even heard about this!
Republicans expect schemes and skulduggery from the radical Left! They’d consider it just another below-the-belt shot at our campaign for Freedom!
It’s a non-story, that shouldn’t waste a court’s time.