A Biden-Harris campaign bus driver told jurors on Wednesday that he felt “under attack” when the bus he was driving was surrounded by a motorcade of former President Trump's supporters on a busy interstate in Texas just 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 his bus on its way to a campaign event was surrounded by dozens of vehicles flying large Trump flags along Interstate 35.
“I've been a ship captain, I've been an airplane pilot. I don't know what they're trying to do,” a tearful Holloway told the seven jurors, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
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In 2020, Trump supporters in pickup trucks tailed a Biden-Harris campaign bus. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Holloway said he felt a knot in his stomach and sweaty palms during the incident on October 30, 2020, and tried to stay calm, and that drivers of the “Trump Train” forced him to slow down to five to 10 miles per hour.
Holloway, along with campaign volunteer and staffer and former Democratic Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, are suing six Trump supporters who were in the motorcade that day for political intimidation in a federal civil lawsuit filed Monday.
The plaintiffs allege that Trump supporters are responsible for acts of violence and political intimidation, including violations of state and federal laws, including the Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was enacted by Congress during Reconstruction after the Civil War to prevent political violence and intimidation and protect black men's voting rights by banning political violence.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks punitive and compensatory damages.
The defendants — Steve Ce, Randy Ce, Robert Meszaros, Joeylynn Meszaros, Eliazar Cisneros and Dolores Park — claim they were simply “very vocal” supporters of Trump, the lawyers said.
The plaintiffs allege the group tried to run a bus off the road along Interstate 35, and in one accident captured on video, a “Trump Train” pickup truck collided with a Biden campaign SUV while traveling behind the bus, but no one was injured. The defendants deny reckless driving and claim it was a campaign staffer in a white SUV that caused the collision along the highway. Video leading up to the collision shows the SUV driving between lanes of traffic multiple times.
The plaintiffs allege that some in the motorcade apparently believed then-vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris might be in the car, when in fact she was not.
A pickup truck flying the American flag in Seaford, New York on October 18, 2020. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Holloway testified on Wednesday that he had an “eerie feeling” when he saw cars of Trump supporters lined up along the interstate, waiting for a bus near the Solms Road exit near New Braunfels. He said drivers of the “Trump Train” nearly collided with him multiple times, forcing Holloway to swerve multiple times to avoid being hit, adding that if he had tried to drive the bus through the cars, it could have resulted in deaths.
“You can't outrun these cars,” Holloway said. “You have to go with the car in front of you.”
Attorney Erin Mersino asked Holloway why he didn't get off the highway and seek refuge at a police station if he felt threatened, to which Holloway responded that side roads along the highway usually have traffic lights and that drivers of the “Trump Train” might have surrounded the parked bus, according to the outlet.
Mr Mercino said if Holloway had truly feared for his life he could have ignored the traffic lights.
Theron Bowman, a former police officer serving as a paid expert witness for the plaintiffs' attorneys, also took the stand Wednesday, as well as Tuesday, to testify that the “Trump Train” drivers posed a “serious threat” to road safety and that their actions appeared to be “highly coordinated,” according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Bowman noted that one of the drivers, Robert Meszaros, stepped in front of the bus and pulled over to the side of the road, while other drivers were seen working together to surround the bus.
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A pickup truck with a Trump flag drives alongside the Biden-Harris campaign bus (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Meszaros' lawyers argued that their client had pulled over to the side of the road because a Texas flag flying on the back of his truck was damaged, and had simply stepped in front of the bus when Holloway honked his horn, which he interpreted as a signal to go ahead and pull over to the shoulder.
Bowman countered that Holloway continued to honk his horn, signalling for him to “get out of the way”.
“The option he took was probably the least safe option he had at that point,” Bowman told the San Antonio Express-News.
Bowman also said the video showed drivers of the “Trump Train” lined up in front of the bus simultaneously applying their brakes to slow the bus.
They also pointed to a cellphone video taken by one of the defendants, Dolores Park, in which Park can be heard saying, “They're trying to spread us out but it's not working… there are just too many of us.” Park can also be heard in the video “slipping in front of” a large tractor-trailer to allow more drivers to join the convoy.
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Davis, who was also on the bus, testified Monday that she felt like she was being “held hostage in a way.”
“It was a day unlike any other campaign day,” Davis said, adding that he felt fear and anxiety.
The trial is scheduled to resume on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
