By Sahar Chmais
Participants in the vehicular aggression of the “Trump Train,” which surrounded and followed the Joe Biden campaign bus on the I-35 corridor in Hays County in October 2020, are being sued by former Sen. Wendy Davis. In a separate complaint filed by Davis, San Marcos police officers are also being sued for their inaction.
One complaint, filed against at least seven members of the “Trump Train,” claimed that the incident violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and Texas law by organizing a “politically-motivated conspiracy to disrupt the campaign and intimidate its supporters.”
The plaintiffs in both cases are Davis, Eric Cervini, a campaign volunteer, David Gins, a campaign staffer and deputy director for operations for Vice President Kamala Harris, and Timothy Holloway, the bus driver.
A defendant in one of the lawsuits, who was not named, sought the help of a local attorney in San Marcos who also wishes to remain anonymous. The attorney refused to represent any defendants in this case, where he would have received a “substantial” amount of money for cases of this nature.
“They deserve everything they get,” the lawyer told the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch, “as far as I’m concerned, they should be in prison. They almost caused a huge wreck on the highway.”
The incident endangered everyone directly involved in the politically charged incident, and it was also an endangerment to the passersby driving on the highway, the attorney explained.
The defendants should also seek a different type of counsel, such as a public interest law firm, the local attorney added. The plaintiffs have several public interest law firms representing them, with attorneys from Austin and New York.
Defendants in both cases differ, and in the lawsuit against San Marcos Police officers, the department’s inaction is paralleled to how police officers in other cities aided the Biden Bus. Other departments provided escorts while some San Marcos Police officers said they would not respond unless the Biden-Harris campaign was reporting a crime, the lawsuit stated.
One officer was quoted in the lawsuit telling the plaintiffs that “we don’t know if the bus is in our jurisdiction,” and “call 911 if there’s a problem.” According to the case, the plaintiff repeatedly explained which exit they were by and their location but never received escorts from law enforcement in San Marcos or Hays County.
The two lawsuits surrounding the Oct. 30, 2020 incident were filed in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas. The presiding judges have not yet been chosen.
The Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch has contacted the Hays County Sheriff’s Office to speak with Gary Cutler, Hays County sheriff, as well as Chase Stapp, a defendant and San Marcos’ Director of Public Safety and Davis. Davis and Cutler have not yet responded. Stapp’s office said that due to pending litigation, neither he nor the city of San Marcos can comment on the matter.