'Trump train' federal civil lawsuit begins
SAN MARCOS, Texas - A federal civil trial is underway against several Donald Trump supporters involved in a 2020 crash with a Biden campaign vehicle.
The lawsuit filed by Biden supporters claims drivers and organizers of a "Trump Train through San Marcos" are responsible for assault and political intimidation tactics.
Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis took the stand on Monday, Sept. 9, describing what it was like being on a Biden-Harris campaign bus while a Trump Train surrounded them.
The prominent democrat said she was anxious on the bus as about 50 Trump supporters swerved into different lanes, started brake-checking the bus, at times slowed to 15 miles per hour, and one truck hit a Biden campaign SUV. Davis also expressed her frustration when police weren’t coming to help after multiple requests.
FOX 7 Focus: Trump train settlement
In this FOX 7 Focus, FOX 7 Austin's John Krinjak sits down with David Gins, one of the staffers on the Biden 2020 campaign bus that was surrounded by Trump supporters in San Marcos and Christina Beeler, an attorney for the plaintiffs, about the settlement and what message they hope it sends.
Former Biden campaign staffer and plaintiff, David Gins, told FOX 7 in October 2023 he was scared.
"It was extremely scary to be going on the highway for about an hour and a half with not a single law enforcement officer in the city of San Marcos showing up," Gins said in October 2023.
In a 42-minute video Davis took that day and was shown in court Monday, she’s heard saying, "What would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? We’d all be arrested and probably thrown up against the side of a car."
The lawyers representing the people on the bus argued the defendants violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 by organizing a politically motivated conspiracy to disrupt the campaign and intimidate its supporters.
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"The impact in a moment was traumatizing for me and for the other plaintiffs," Gins said.
The six defendants said driving alongside the bus in protest is protected by the first amendment. They said there was no conspiracy, and this case is an abuse of the judicial system.
The defendants tried to have the case dismissed before the trial started, but U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman, nominated by President Barack Obama, denied the motion.
This trial is expected to last two to three weeks.