Twitter / ericcervini
Video shared by this Twitter user shows Trump supporters harassing a Biden tour bus along a stretch of I-35 near San Marcos.
The attorneys are moving to dismiss claims against New Braunfels-area residents Hannah Ceh and Kyle Kruger in a suit brought by former state Sen. Wendy Davis and three others traveling on a Biden campaign bus swarmed by Trump supporters' vehicles. The case against six other defendants remains pending and is scheduled to go to trial next April, according to court records.
The terms of the settlement are under a nondisclosure order, according to Protect Democracy, one of the groups representing the plaintiffs. However, Ceh and Kruger both issued formal apologies for their participation in the incident, the organization said in a press statement.
In addition to financial damages, the suit seeks a determination that the Trump supporters who swarmed the bus violated the campaign workers’ rights to participate in the political process in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 — a federal law that prohibits election-related political violence and voter intimidation.
The incident made national headlines. Video showed multiple people in trucks adorned with Donald Trump flags surrounding the Biden bus as it traveled Interstate 35 from San Antonio to Austin. The trucks succeeded in slowing the bus nearly to a stop and at least one minor collision was captured in footage.
Citing safety concerns, Democrats canceled three Central Texas campaign gatherings following the incident.
Hannah Ceh is the daughter of Steve and Randi Ceh, whom the lawsuit identifies as leaders of a New Braunfels "Trump train." Kruger is engaged to Ceh, according to The Texas Tribune, citing her social media accounts.
"After the Biden campaign abandoned the rest of their bus tour I sent a text saying that ‘we canceled them,’ as at the time I felt we had succeeded in our efforts to send a message that the Biden campaign bus should not stop for any more events in Texas because it was not supported by our community or welcome in it," Hannah Ceh said in the apology provided by Protect Democracy. "Looking back, I would have done things differently. I do not feel that I was thinking things through at the time, and I apologize to the occupants of the bus for my part in actions that day that frightened or intimidated them.”
In his apology, Kruger acknowledged that his driving was "risky."
“While I regret now participating in such risky activity, and apologize to the occupants of the bus for my part in the actions that day, at the time I and other Trump Train participants were happy that, after our actions, the Biden campaign canceled the rest of the bus tour," he said.
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