Four people on a Biden campaign bus accused police of ignoring requests for help as they drove on Interstate 35 surrounded by Trump supporters. They alleged that officers “joked about the victims and their distress.” A second lawsuit related to...
Colin McLaren, an advance staff member for the Biden-Harris campaign in Texas, speaks to Democrats at Vera Minter Park Wednesday in downtown Abilene on Oct. 28, 2020. Days later, the bus was involved in a highway altercation with Trump supporters., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
surrounded by the Trump supporters who allegedly drove dangerously close to the bus while honking and shouting, forcing it to slow to a crawl. The lawsuit plaintiffs said law enforcement"turned a blind eye to the attack — despite pleas for help — and failed to provide the bus a police escort.” The lawsuit alleged that by refusing to help, law enforcement officers violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 because they were aware of “acts of violent political intimidation” but did not take appropriate steps to prevent the Trump supporters from intimidating eligible voters.
"While the City of San Marcos continues to deny many of the allegations in the lawsuit, the City of San Marcos Police Department’s response did not reflect the Department’s high standards for conduct and attention to duty," the statement reads, according to the settlement."The City regrets that Mr. Cervini, Ms. Davis, Mr. Gins, and Mr. Holloway had this unfortunate experience while traveling through the City of San Marcos.
Once they left San Antonio, dozens of trucks with Trump and American flags surrounded the bus, shouting and honking at it, and tried to slow it down. The campaign canceled an event in San Marcos and continued on to an event in Austin. But plaintiffs said they struggled to get police to respond as they continued north on I-35.
The plaintiff’s lawyers included 911 transcripts in the updated lawsuit, showing that San Marcos police and 911 dispatchers fielded multiple requests for assistance from Democratic campaigners and bus passengersfrom a pack of motorists, known as a “Trump Train,” allegedly driving in dangerously aggressive ways. The lawsuit also stated that San Marcos police continued to receive 911 calls from other witnesses warning them of reckless driving along I-35.
The 911 dispatcher in San Marcos put the New Braunfels dispatcher and the Biden campaign staffer who was pleading for assistance on hold and called Daenzer, the police supervisor on duty. “hey’re like really worked up over it and he’s like breathing hard and stuff, like, ‘they’re being really aggressive.’ Okay. Calm down,” she said to Daenzer.
The dispatcher repeated that officers would be there to monitor traffic infractions, but said there would be no escort and indicated that decision was made by a high-ranking police official the lawsuit claims is Winkenwerder.
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San Marcos settles lawsuit over law enforcement response to 2020 'Trump Train' incidentFour people on a Biden campaign bus accused police of ignoring requests for help as they drove on Interstate 35 surrounded by Trump supporters. They alleged that officers “joked about the victims and their distress.” A second lawsuit related to the incident remains pending.
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