By Luis De Jesus
Sep 23, 2024, 11:56 PM EDT
A federal jury in Texas has acquitted five of six supporters of former President Donald Trump who faced charges of violating federal law after surrounding a Joe Biden campaign bus on a highway in the state days before the 2020 presidential election.
The incident, which occurred on October 30 of that year in Hays County, Texas, involved a group of people who, under the name of “Trump train”, surrounded the campaign bus of the then Democratic candidate, Efe reported.
Although five of the defendants were acquitted, one of them, Eliazar Cisneros, was found liable and must pay $30,000 in punitive damages and an additional $10,000 to the bus driver, after his vehicle lightly collided with the bus.
The incident was captured on video and led to the cancellation of two Democratic campaign events due to security concerns.
Among the bus passengers was former congresswoman Wendy Davis, who along with two other occupants sued the suspects for political intimidation.
Following the verdict, Christina Beeler, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project who represented the plaintiffs, stressed the significance of the ruling.
He said the punitive damages payment sends “a message to the public that threats, intimidation and violence have no place in American elections.”
Former President Donald Trump, upon learning of the incident in 2020, expressed his support on social media, writing, “I love Texas.” The post was accompanied by images of Biden’s campaign bus surrounded by his supporters.
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