A federal jury cleared all but one of six Donald Trump supporters accused in a civil trial of surrounding of a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a Texas highway before the 2020 election. The defendants were accused of violating the Civil War-era 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which aims to provide protections against political threats or violence. The incident, known as the "Trump Train" confrontation, occurred along I-35 between San Antonio and Austin, Axios reports. Eliazar Cisneros, a chef and Navy veteran, was the only one to be found liable in the federal case concerning a caravan of cars and trucks that slowed the Biden campaign bus to a crawl.
The defendants argued that they were conducting a "peaceful protest" that was protected under the First Amendment and "never intended to intimidate or threaten" the campaign. Cisneros was found liable for using threats and intimidation toward former state Sen. Wendy Davis, ex-Biden campaign staffer David Gins and bus driver Timothy Holloway. The jury found that Cisneros should pay $30,000 in punitive damages to the three plaintiffs and $10,000 in compensatory damages to Holloway. Protect Democracy, one of the groups that brought the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, described Cisneros as "lead organizer of the 'Trump Train.'"
The nonprofit hailed Cisneros' conviction as "a major victory for American civil rights, reaffirming that all citizens are protected against politically motivated threats, intimidation, and force." The City of San Marcos paid the plaintiffs $175,000 in a settlement. The city said that the police "response did not reflect the Department's high standards for conduct and attention to duty."
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