Defendants in the so-called “Trump Train” case in Texas say they have been completely exonerated of voter intimidation charges related to an incident nearly four years ago when a motorcade of Trump supporters in pickup trucks and SUVs surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a busy highway.
Three of the defendants, Steve and Randy Ce and Joeylynn Meszaros, spoke to Fox News Digital detailing the hellish years they endured while fighting attempts to stifle political speech and attack their First Amendment rights.
The defendants argued that the case was a “loafer” bid against them and was similar to the recent trial against former President Trump. Charges against the three and two others were dismissed by a federal jury.
'Trump Train' trial begins as former Democratic congressman says he felt like a 'hostage'
Defendants in the Trump Train trial celebrate outside the courtroom. (Jay Janner/American Statesman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Eliazar Cisneros, whose pickup truck collided with a white SUV in an accident caught on camera, was ordered to pay the bus driver $10,000 plus another $30,000 in punitive damages. The collision and aggressive conduct of the motorcade occurred on Oct. 30, 2020, as the bus was passing through San Marcos, about 30 miles southwest of Austin.
Three people told Fox News Digital that nothing major happened and that the bus and SUV were weaving in and out of their lanes. They say the collision was minor and was exaggerated and taken out of context by the media to portray Trump supporters as extremists.
““It was very friendly. We have tons of videos of friendly encounters, like people on the side of the road waving, smiling, the bus just driving by and the truck driving behind it,” Meszaros recalled. “Through the litigation, we found out there was one or two cars that were driving things that we wouldn't drive, and at worst they got a traffic ticket, nothing big or extreme, nothing under the Ku Klux Klan Act of conspiracy to intimidate voters, but they weren't sued, and we were just doing it knowingly.” [and] Perhaps they considered us an easy target, but they could never have imagined that God would support us in this battle and that we would emerge victorious.”
The plaintiffs accused Trump supporters of assault and political intimidation, alleging violations of state law and the federal Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was intended to prevent political violence and intimidation. The law was enacted by Congress during Reconstruction after the Civil War to protect black men's voting rights by banning political violence. No criminal charges were filed against the six Trump supporters.
A Biden-Harris campaign bus driver told jurors during the trial that he felt “under attack” and feared for his life when the bus was surrounded by a motorcade. The driver said the group's actions forced him to slow the bus to 15 miles per hour on the busy highway.
The driver, who sued the six defendants along with former Texas Sen. Wendy Davis, campaign volunteers and staff, testified that Davis felt like she was “held hostage in a way.”
The plaintiffs allege that the group was driving recklessly and tried to run the bus off the road, forcing them to cancel a campaign event they were heading to. Davis also said the verdict is a vindication and a relief.
'Trump Train' trial: Defendant claims motorcade was exercising 'First Amendment rights' in highway crash
As for the road crash, Cisneros' lawyers have said they will appeal, in which his pickup truck collided with a Biden campaign SUV while driving behind a bus, but no one was injured.
Cisneros denied driving recklessly and said it was a campaign worker in a white SUV who caused the collision on the freeway. Video leading up to the crash shows the SUV weaving back and forth between lanes of traffic. Cisneros said social media posts he later made bragging about “smashing” into another vehicle were taken out of context.
A pickup truck with a Trump flag was seen next to a Biden-Harris campaign bus. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
The Chesses say they were caught up in the lawsuit because they ran a Facebook page that helped organize a Trump parade in the New Braunfels area, in which Meszaros was scheduled to participate.
They said they knew the bus was coming that day, but encountered it on their way home from work.
“I was in my truck for work, so I'd watch it go by, but it wasn't until a year and a half after the lawsuit was filed that we were finally brought into this lawsuit,” Steve said. “And that's because we organized the Trump Train here in New Braunfels, and it got pretty big. It was all grassroots. And I'm a pastor, so the mainstream administration that we see wants to silence all of the truth. Anyone who disagrees with them, they want to silence it, or they want to instill fear in all of us so we don't speak out against them. But we can't do that.”
From left, bus driver Tim Holloway, former Joe Biden campaign staffer David Gins and former state Sen. Wendy Davis speak to reporters after the Trump Train trial, Sept. 23, 2024, in downtown Austin. (Jay Janner/American Statesman/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“I don't want my grandchildren to grow up in a Marxist society, but that's the direction society is currently moving in,” he added.
Ms. Lundy said prosecutors portrayed her as the “controller” in planning the event when she notified the Facebook group in advance, which she said had as many as 5,000 followers.
“I was asked… “I was told to put out a post saying Biden's bus was going to pass by and that anyone who wanted to peacefully follow it could do so. So I put out the post, went to work, only to find out later that I was going to be sued as a controller,” Randy Se said.
Jolyne Meszaros said the case was not just political persecution, but that prosecutors had tried to circumvent the Constitution to make their case. The family has had to pay about $75,000 in legal fees, which she said they plan to recover through a lawsuit. The Saezes' legal costs were paid for by the nonprofit group Citizens Defending Freedom.
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In 2020, Trump supporters in pickup trucks tailed a Biden-Harris campaign bus. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
“We are being treated the same as President Trump. We have gag orders, we have an unfair judiciary, we have a biased judge appointed by President Obama, we have preliminary motions that prevent us from telling the whole truth, they won't allow us to refer to the Constitution and they are watering down the definition of free speech,” Meszaros said. “So by the time the jury gets their instructions it's a rigged sham trial. This is a total travesty and a mockery of the justice system and using it for their own political gain.”
Meszaros said the incident was referenced during Trump's impeachment trial and 14th Amendment hearings and used to label Trump's supporters as political extremists or with extreme tendencies.
“Not only are they interfering with our Constitution and our elections, they're inventing lies, hiring experts to prove them, cross-hatching them in every lawsuit to prove their case, and we're the collateral damage.”
