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An Austin jury has cleared all but one of Donald Trump supporters who were accused of breaking federal law when they surrounded a Joe Biden campaign bus traveling on a Texas highway days before the 2020 election.
The seven-person jury, which deliberated for most of Monday, found that only one of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, violated the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 when the so-called Trump Train — a nickname given to caravans meant to show support for the former president — approached the bus as it was traveling north on Interstate 35 between San Antonio and Austin on Oct. 30, 2020. The group, which included dozens of vehicles on the highway that day, forced the bus to slow to a crawl.
Cisneros was ordered to pay $30,000 in punitive damages to the defendants and $10,000 in compensatory damages to the bus driver, Timothy Holloway. Cisneros’ attorney asked the judge to overturn the decision after it was announced. If the judge rules against Cisneros, he can appeal the jury’s decision to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Both plaintiffs and defendants called Monday’s verdict a victory.
“Praise be to God,” defendant Steve Ceh told reporters outside the courtroom.
Joeylynn Mesaros, another defendant, said she felt vindicated after what she saw as a lawsuit brought by a group of Democrats trying to silence the speech of those with whom they disagree.
“Given that the odds were deliberately stacked against us and the trial was rigged, I was reassured that the jury was still able to see clearly,” Mesaros said. Her attorney said they would file a motion to have their fees covered by the plaintiffs, estimating that she and her husband Robert Mesaros, another defendant, spent between $200,000 and $300,000 on the case.
Outside the courthouse, the plaintiffs and their attorneys also said they were pleased with the jury’s decision.
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“Each of us really had one interest at heart, and that was to make sure that in the next election, people understand that it is not acceptable to intimidate, harass and threaten people who want nothing more than to express their right to support the candidate of their choice,” said former state Sen. Wendy Davis, who was one of the plaintiffs.
Christina Beeler, an attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project, which helped represent the plaintiffs, said they were pleased the jury awarded punitive damages, which sends “a message to the public that threats, intimidation and violence have no place in American elections.”
“Today’s verdict is a victory for our clients, and it’s a victory for American democracy,” she added.
Holloway, Davis and another bus passenger, former Biden campaign staffer David Gins, sued several members of Trump’s 2021 caravan, accusing them of participating in a conspiracy to disrupt the campaign in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act. The incident led the Biden campaign to cancel campaign stops in San Marcos and Austin.
Over the past two weeks, plaintiffs’ attorneys have tried to convince the jury that the six defendants who were part of the Trump Train intentionally tried to intimidate people on the bus.
“To dangerously surround someone on the highway, anyone, a Republican, a Democrat, anyone on the highway and force them out of town is not acceptable, has no place in Texas, has no place in America and it has consequences,” attorney Samuel Hall told jurors during opening statements in the trial.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys had to prove that the defendants participated in a conspiracy to prevent one or more people from supporting or advocating for a candidate for federal office. They also had to prove that the defendants’ actions affected the plaintiffs. All three plaintiffs said the incident on I-35 caused them emotional distress, anxiety, depression or insomnia, and that it made it difficult for them to perform some of their job duties.
Throughout the trial, the defendants and their attorneys have insisted there was no conspiracy. While they all participated in the Trump Trains before the 2020 election, they did not know each other before or during the incident and had no intention of threatening, intimidating or harming anyone on the Biden bus that day, they said.
Erin Mersino, attorney for defendant Dolores Park, told jurors during closing arguments that Park’s behavior on the day of the incident may have been “odd,” but it did not break the law.
“It may not be pleasant. It may not be his proudest moment. But it is not a violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act,” she said.
But the plaintiffs said the way Trump supporters’ vehicles surrounded the bus — slowing it to 15 miles per hour on I-35 while drivers honked their horns — made them feel like they were being “held hostage.”
“We didn’t know who they were or what they were capable of,” Davis testified at the start of the trial.
Jerad Najvar, an attorney for Joeylynn and Robert Mesaros, told the Texas Tribune that his clients waited three years to put the events of October 30 into context, adding that the entire situation had been “taken out of context and the discourse had cooled.”
The Mesaros began participating in the New Braunfels Trump Trains to show their support for Trump, they testified at trial. The New Braunfels Trump Trains were organized by two other defendants, Steve and Randi Ceh. Cisneros and Park also participated in the Alamo City Trump Train several times before the election.
Two other defendants named in the original complaint reached settlements last year. The terms were not made public, but the defendants issued public apologies for their involvement.
“Looking back, I feel like I would have done things differently. I don’t feel like I thought about what was happening at the time and I apologize to the people on the bus for my participation in the actions that frightened or intimidated them that day,” Hannah Ceh, daughter of defendants Randi and Steve Ceh, wrote in her apology.
The plaintiffs also filed a second lawsuit against the San Marcos police department, accusing law enforcement of turning a blind eye to the attack. The city reached a settlement with the plaintiffs last fall. As part of the settlement, San Marcos police officers and professional staff are to receive training on how to respond to political violence and voter intimidation and how to build community trust. The city paid $175,000 to four plaintiffs.
