By Sahar Chmais
Republicans and Democrats are in agreement on one thing this election; they want people to vote and practice their rights. That might be the closest thing to an agreement residents get from the two parties, because they still do not agree on what occurred during the Biden bus and Trump campaign incident that occurred Friday on I-35 between San Marcos and Kyle.
To backtrack, the San Marcos Police Department stated that the Biden-Harris bus called SMPD to request police escort through San Marcos. Three police officers responded, but due to excess traffic caused by an unrelated accident, they were unable to catch up before the bus exited the jurisdiction and entered Kyle’s city limits.
“Available video footage makes it appear as though the at-fault vehicle may be the white SUV and the victim appears to be the black truck, as supported by a Kyle Police report,” states the SMPD report.
As of yesterday, Nov. 2, SMPD is cooperating with the FBI’s Austin Field Office to provide the FBI with information about the investigation.
What people saw was a cocktail of videos and photos posted from drivers near the car crash. These graphics instigated heated debate on social media, but much of the debate has been left up for speculation.
One of the people at the incident who took a video, Naomi Narvaiz, was participating in the Trump campaign. Narvaiz and her husband had been following the Biden bus for a while, trying to find out where the next campaign stop would be.
“We wanted to show support for our president,” Narvaiz said. “This is my own reason. I imagine it was the same reason others were driving alongside [the bus]. The comments from the public is we were out there for no other reason but to harass.”
From Narvaiz’s observation, the white SUV which is allegedly a Biden staff vehicle, was driving in two lanes. Nothing on the SUV indicated it was a staff vehicle; Narvaiz said she thought it was a vehicle caught in the traffic. But it looked as if the white vehicle was trying to push the truck off.
“I don’t know why they would do that, it was a big truck,” Narvaiz said. The bottom line to Narvaiz is that “the black truck was not violating any traffic laws.”
If the white vehicle felt like it was in danger, Narvaiz added, they should have stopped and called the police.
Viewing of the video that Narvaiz posted on Facebook shows that the white SUV had its blinkers on. Before it was in the incident, it had been driving directly behind the bus.
The Texas Democratic Party held a different perspective on the incident.
According to an email from the Texas Democrats, the campaign bus was surrounded by vehicles with Trump signs who were attempting to slow the bus down and run it off the road. They pulled in front of the bus and slowed down to try to stop it in the middle of the highway.
The statement also said that the campaign staff on the bus notified 911 and local law enforcement of the situation, but in abundance of caution, they pulled down a scheduled event.
“Rather than engage in productive conversation about the drastically different visions that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have for our country,” said Tariq Thowfeek, Texas Democratic Party communications director, “Trump supporters in Texas instead decided to put our staff, surrogates, supporters and others in harm’s way.”
Regardless of the versions spectators are receiving, the message from Narvaiz and the Texas Democratic Party was the same.
“Our message now is to go vote, that's the only thing that matters right now,” Abhi Rahman, staff member at the Texas Democratic Party told the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch.
Narvaiz left with a similar message as she spoke from a polling place in San Marcos. “We as Americans have constitutional rights, we still live in a free country. Anybody can support the candidate of their choice… we need to get out to the polls.”
