Trump Train convoy driver hits into Biden-Harris volunteer’s vehicle on Oct. 30, 2020 on I-35 in Texas. Right: Eliazar Cisneros during prior Black Lives Matter crowd incident (exhibits in court documents).
The “Trump Train” pickup truck driver who hit into a Biden-Harris volunteer’s vehicle behind the campaign’s bus on I-35 in Texas back in 2020 was the only one of six defendants found liable by a federal jury to the tune of $40,000 in a long-running Ku Klux Klan Act lawsuit.
Wendy Davis, a Democratic former member of the Texas Senate, former Biden-Harris campaign staffer David Gins, and bus driver Tim Holloway won their case only as to Eliazar Cisneros, putting him on the hook for $10,000 in compensatory damages and $30,000 in punitive damages, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said Monday.
In early August, it became clear that the case would head to trial nearly four years after the incident from the lead-up to the 2020 election.
The lawsuit had alleged that defendants Cisneros, Dolores Park, Joeylynn Mesaros, Robert Mesaros, and Steve Ceh together took part in a conspiracy to “ambush” the Biden-Harris bus on the highway in an act of political intimidation infringing on plaintiffs’ right to “engage in support or advocacy in federal elections[.]” In the end, the jury only found Cisneros responsible, however, and U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman’s prior ruling in the case and jury instructions provided some insight as to why that may be.
Much of the judge’s ruling denying summary judgment recounted Cisneros’ communications before the incident and in the aftermath, including during a deposition.
The judge wrote that Cisneros “later described” that Cisneros described hitting the campaign volunteer’s car as “‘me slamming that f****r’ and ‘welcom[ing] him properly to Texas.””
The judge also said Cisneros boasted that he was “[s]mart enough to get the entire Biden-Harris campaign cancelled in Texas,” called the driver of the staffer vehicle “Antifa, I’m more than sure,” that he testified at a deposition he “‘pushed [the staffer] back’ and agreed that he ‘hit him,’ and that t”here was evidence he once texted co-defendant Joeylynn Mesaros asking for a custom-made “don’t make me Rittenhouse your a–” T-shirt.
Then, during a deposition, Cisneros cast himself as a savior of Texas, the judge added.
“And even during his deposition, Cisneros reflected on the success of his plan: ‘So was it a success that I kind of saved Texas from people like that, that would quit in the smallest face of adversity? I would— I would want somebody a lot stronger than that. Somebody who won’t quit,’” Pitman wrote.
The judge further said that Cisneros had just one month before the “Trump Train” incident made headlines for driving through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters hoping to cause “a little bit of fear.”
“Cisneros testified at his deposition that he drove into that crowd of protestors ‘just to make a statement,’ but when asked whether he knew if he put anybody in fear of being hit by his truck, he testified, ‘I hope so. I hope I instilled a little bit of fear, yeah,’” the previous ruling said.
After the Black Lives Matter incident from September 2020, Cisneros reportedly said “I didn’t want to hurt anybody” and “You know, get off the street, get on the sidewalk and protest whatever you are protesting on the sidewalk. Stay safe.”
Cisneros had argued the “Trump Train” was merely an exercise of his First Amendment rights to support his candidate of choice, but the jury was unswayed.
The jury instructions notably allowed the jury to use “intentionally deleted text messages” from before and from the day of the incident against Cisneros.
In comment to the Associated Press after the jury’s decision, Joeylynn Mesaros said “We’re just ready to feel like normal people again.”
“It’s been a thousand something days to have our day in court,” Mesaros remarked.
In additional remarks to the Austin American-Statesment, she said that and her husband and co-defendant Robert “felt like we’ve been hunted like prey and like zoo animals in the cage and mischaracterized and misrepresented” all while racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.
“The stigma that comes with the Ku Klux Klan is horrible,” she said.
Cisneros will evidently have more days in court as his attorney Francisco Canseco has reportedly vowed to appeal, saying, “it’s not over yet.”
As for the plaintiffs’ attorneys, they are declaring victory.
While Protect Democracy attorney John Paredes said the jury verdict as to Cisneros “sends a strong signal to all Americans that anyone who engages in acts of political intimidation or violence in this upcoming election or any other election will be held accountable,” Texas Civil Rights Project Senior Supervising Attorney Christina Beeler said her clients had an “extraordinary amount of courage” in bringing the lawsuit.
“Nothing can change what Wendy, David, and Tim experienced on that campaign bus four years ago, but as a result of their courage, our democracy is stronger and more resilient,” Beeler said. “This verdict affirms and reinforces that every American has the fundamental right to participate in the democratic process and to support the candidates of their choosing free from election-related intimidation or violence.”
Samuel Hall of the firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP added that the KKK Act statute “fell into disuse” for decades but is now relevant again due to the “climate of heightened political polarization and extremism.”
“People who support Harris, Trump, or neither all enjoy the same protections under the law. The foundation of democracy is fragile, and we must be vigilant in guarding it,” Hall said.
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