Closing arguments begin in civil trial over ‘Trump Train’ encounter with Biden-Harris bus in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A civil trial in Texas over a so-called “Trump Train” that surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus days before the 2020 election reached closing arguments Friday before a federal jury decides whether the rolling highway encounter amounted to political intimidation.

“This case is not about politics,” Robert Meyer, an attorney representing those aboard the bus, told the jury. “It’s about safety.”

The two-week trial in an Austin federal courthouse has included testimony from former Texas Democratic lawmaker Wendy Davis, who ran for governor in 2014, and is one of three people who was on board the bus and brought the lawsuit against six supporters of former President Donald Trump.

No criminal charges have been filed against the Trump supporters, who have argued that their actions during the convoy on Oct. 30, 2020, were protected speech.

Video that Davis recorded from the bus shows pickup trucks with large Trump flags slowing down to box in the bus as it tried to move away from the group of Trump supporters. One of the defendants hit a campaign volunteer’s car while the trucks occupied all lanes of traffic, forcing the bus and everyone around it to a 15 mph crawl.

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