Biden workers sue “Trump Train”

Post Reply New Topic

A White House staffer and former Texas state representative are among those suing several participants of a "Trump Train" that allegedly harassed a Biden campaign bus last October in Texas, claiming in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the Trump supporters engaged in coordinated, illegal political intimidation in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act.

The complaint was filed on behalf White House staffer, David Gins; former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis; former Biden campaign volunteer Eric Cervini; and the driver of the Biden campaign bus, Timothy Holloway. The plaintiffs wrote in their complaint filed in the Western District of Texas that on October 30, the Trump supporters "terrorized and menaced the driver and passengers on the Biden-Harris Campaign's bus" for at least 90 minutes, forcing the bus to slow to a crawl on a major highway while swerving in front of the bus to block its path.

"They played a madcap game of highway 'chicken,' coming within three to four inches of the bus," the lawsuit alleges. "They tried to run the bus off the road," referring to the defendants.

The complaint alleges that the defendants -- named as Eliazar Cisneros, Hannah Ceh, Joeylynn Mesaros, Robert Mesaros, Dolores Park, and a Jane and John Doe -- conspired beforehand to surround and block the bus in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act, passed by Congress in 1871 to prohibit the obstruction of free and fair elections via the coordinated intimidation of voters. As a result of their actions, they claim, the campaign was forced to cancel its stops in San Marcos and Austin out of fear for their safety.

The complaint also draws a line between the events of that day and the January 6 riot at the Capitol. The complaint notes that some of the individuals who were involved in planning the Trump Train incident on October 30 were also in Washington the day of the deadly insurrection. The complaint also notes members of the New Braunfels Trump Train were identified in media reports and on social media has "having taken part in the January 6, 2021 insurrection."

It is not the first time the Klan Act has been invoked this year in connection with acts carried out by Trump supporters before and after the election. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, filed a lawsuit against Trump in February accusing him of inciting the January 6 riot and violating a provision of the Ku Klux Klan Act that prohibits political violence and intimidation that could impede federal officials from performing their constitutional dutie

The same plaintiffs are suing San Marcos, Texas, law enforcement officials and employees in a separate lawsuit alleging that they violated another section of the Klan Act by failing to prevent or respond to the harassment.

Gins, who now serves as deputy director for operations in the Office of the Vice President, had volunteered to work on the Biden-Harris Inaugural Committee in the runup to January 20, according to the complaint. But he backed out after the events of January 6 because of "anxiety about the security aspect," he said in a text message at the time and wrote that he had been "a little traumatized" by the Biden campaign bus incident, according to the complaint.

"The experience of those 90 minutes on I-35 is something I will carry with me for the rest of my life," Gins told CNN. "Elections are partisan and can get heated, but we cannot allow violence to become part of our great democracy. If you resort to violence, the law will hold you accountable for your actions."

Holloway said that "after a long career as a bus driver, the Biden-Harris bus was the last one I ever drove."