Trump Train surrounds Biden-Harris campaign bus in October 2020
A convoy of Donald Trump supporters surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin, Texas, Oct. 30, 2020. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
The driver of a Biden-Harris campaign bus told jurors on Wednesday that he felt "under attack" when the bus he was driving was swarmed by a convoy of former President Trump supporters on a busy Texas interstate days before the 2020 presidential election.
On the third day of the "Trump train trial," bus driver Timothy Holloway testified that he felt threatened during the incident when dozens of vehicles adorned with large Trump flags surrounded the bus along Interstate 35 as it made its way to a campaign event.
"I was the captain of the ship. I was the pilot of the plane," a tearful Holloway told the seven-person jury, according to the San Antonio Express-News. "I don’t know what they’re trying to do."
'TRUMP TRAIN' TRIAL KICKS OFF WITH FORMER DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER TESTIFYING SHE FELT LIKE A 'HOSTAGE'
A Trump supporter in a pick-up truck tails a Biden-Harris campaign bus in 2020. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Holloway said he had a clenching feeling in his stomach and sweaty palms as he worked to stay calm during the Oct. 30, 2020, incident, saying the "Trump Train" drivers forced him to slow down to speeds as low as 5 or 10 miles per hour.
Holloway, along with former Democratic Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, a campaign volunteer and a staffer, is suing six Trump supporters who were part of the convoy that day, accusing them of political intimidation in a federal civil case that kicked off Monday.
The plaintiffs say those Trump supporters are responsible for assault and political intimidation tactics, including violating state law and the federal Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law aims to stop political violence and intimidation tactics and was enacted by Congress during the Reconstruction Era to protect the rights of Black men to vote by prohibiting political violence.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks punitive and compensatory damages.
The defendants — Steve Ceh, Randi Ceh, Robert Mesaros, Joeylynn Mesaros, Eliazar Cisneros and Dolores Park — say they were merely supporting Trump "in a very loud way," an attorney has said.
The plaintiffs say the group attempted to run the bus off the road along Interstate 35 and in one incident captured on video, a "Trump Train" pickup truck and a Biden campaign SUV collided while trailing the bus, although nobody was hurt. The defendants have denied driving recklessly and argue that a campaign staff member in the white SUV initiated the collision along the highway. Video leading up to the collision shows the SUV repeatedly driving in between lanes.
The plaintiffs argue that some of those in the convoy appeared to believe that Kamala Harris, then a candidate for vice president, might be aboard, though she was not.
A pick-up truck in Seaford, New York, on Oct. 18, 2020, with American flags. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Holloway on Wednesday testified he got an "eerie feeling" when he saw the Trump supporters’ vehicles lined up along the interstate waiting for the bus around the Solms Road exit near New Braunfels, the San Antonio Express-News reports. He said that the "Trump Train" drivers caused several near-collisions and forced Holloway to repeatedly swerve to avoid crashing, adding that if he had tried to navigate the bus through the group of vehicles, it might have led to deaths.
"I can’t really outrun these cars," Holloway said. "You have to do whatever the car in front of you does."
Erin Mersino, a defense attorney, asked Holloway why he didn’t pull off the freeway and seek safety at a police station if he felt threatened. Holloway replied saying that there are usually stoplights on the frontage roads along the highway, where the "Trump Train" drivers might have surrounded the stopped bus, per the outlet.
Mersino said Halloway could have run the lights if he were really in fear for his life.
Theron Bowman, a former police official who is working as a paid expert witness for the plaintiffs' attorneys, also took the stand on Wednesday, as well as on Tuesday, and testified that the "Trump Train" drivers posed a "serious threat" to traffic safety and that their actions appeared "very coordinated," the San Antonio Express-News reports.
He noted that one driver — Robert Mesaros — pulled in front of the bus to stop on the shoulder, while Bowman said he could see a pattern of the drivers working together to surround the bus.
A pick-up truck with Trump flags flanks a Biden-Harris campaign bus (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Mesaros’ attorney argued that his client had stopped on the shoulder due to damage to a state of Texas flag that was flying from the back of his truck and that he only pulled in front of the bus when Holloway honked the horn, interpreting the honk as a signal to go ahead and pull over.
Bowman countered, saying that Holloway made a sustained honk of his horn, indicating for him to "get out of my way."
"The option that he took was probably the least safe option that he had at that moment," Bowman said, per the San Antonio Express-News.
Bowman also said that video showed a line of "Trump Train" drivers in front of the bus braking at the same time to slow it down.
He also pointed to cell phone videos filmed by Dolores Park, one of the defendants, where she can be heard saying: "They try to break us up, but it doesn’t work … there’s too many of us." She can also be heard in the video describing how she could "scoot over" in front of a semi-truck to let more drivers join the convoy.
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On Monday, Davis, who was also on the bus, testified that she felt like she was being "taken hostage in a way."
"It was a day that was very different from anything I experienced campaigning," said Davis, who testified that she felt riddled with fear and anxiety.
The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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