Southwest
'Trump Train' trial: Defendant says convoy using 'first amendment right' during highway clash
A woman who is accused of political intimidation for being part of a convoy of former President Donald Trump supporters who surrounded a Biden-Harris campaign bus on a busy Texas interstate in 2020 says the incident was an exercise in free speech and was not intended to impede the progress of the bus.
Randi Ceh and her husband, Steve Ceh, are among six people being sued for swarming the bus along Interstate 35 as it made its way to a campaign event on Oct. 30, 2020.
“We used our first amendment right to drive down the highway,” Randi Ceh said Monday, per the San Antonio Express-News, as the second week of the trial got underway. “We did a ‘Trump Train’ and it was cool.”
‘TRUMP TRAIN’ TRIAL KICKS OFF WITH FORMER DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER TESTIFYING SHE FELT LIKE A ‘HOSTAGE’
Former state senator Wendy Davis, left, and bus driver Tim Holloway, center, arrive at the “Trump Train” trial at the United States Federal Courthouse in downtown Austin, Texas, on Sept. 12, 2024. Davis and other plaintiffs on a Biden-Harris campaign bus traveling on I-35 in 2020 are suing people on a “Trump Train” for allegedly nearly running them off the road. (Jay Janner/American-Statesman/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
She described the event as an “our team versus your team” political exercise and argued they were not trying to intimidate anyone.
The trial kicked off last week, and the seven-person jury heard from plaintiffs, including former Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, who testified that she felt like she was being “taken hostage in a way,” and the driver of the bus said he felt “under attack” and feared for his life.
Davis and the driver, along with a campaign volunteer and a staffer, are suing six Trump supporters who were part of a convoy made up of dozens of pickup trucks and cars adorned with large Trump flags that converged on the bus days before the 2020 presidential election.
The plaintiffs say those Trump supporters are responsible for assault and political intimidation tactics, violating state law and the federal Enforcement Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act. The law aims to stop political violence and intimidation tactics and was enacted by Congress during the Reconstruction Era to protect the rights of Black men to vote by prohibiting political violence.
The plaintiffs say the group drove recklessly and attempted to run the bus off the road. In one incident captured on video, a “Trump Train” pickup truck and a Biden campaign SUV collided while trailing the bus, although nobody was hurt. The defendants have denied driving recklessly and argue that a campaign staff member in the white SUV initiated the collision along the highway. Video leading up to the collision shows the SUV repeatedly driving in between lanes.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks punitive and compensatory damages.
TRUMP-BIDEN HIGHWAY INCIDENT IN TEXAS MAY HAVE BEEN WHITE SUV’S FAULT, POLICE SAY; MORE INVESTIGATION PLANNED
A pickup truck with former President Donald Trump flags flanks a Biden-Harris campaign bus. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
The defendants – including the Cehs, as well as Robert Mesaros, Joeylynn Mesaros, Eliazar Cisneros and Dolores Park – say they were merely supporting Trump “in a very loud way,” an attorney said. The defense also argued that their clients’ actions were protected speech and that the trial is a concerted effort to “drain conservatives of their money.”
On Monday, Sam Hall, an attorney for the plaintiffs, attempted to show that Ceh was aware that the convoy was impeding the progress of the bus, pointing to posts on a Facebook group by others writing “SURROUNDED” and “They did not stop! Too much Trump support so they are going straight through to Austin.”
Hall asked Randi Ceh why she did not use her ability as the Facebook group’s administrator to take down such posts, to which she cited users’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. Hall also pointed to her using the hashtag “#BlocktheBus” in her posts, per the San Antonio Express-News.
Randi Ceh, of New Braunfels, and her husband created the Facebook page in 2020 after they moved from Las Vegas, where they had previously taken part in “flag runs” in which they organized convoys of vehicles to support then-President Trump’s re-election campaign, according to the outlet.
She said they continued the tradition in New Braunfels, where their “Trump Trains” grew to include hundreds of vehicles, she said. One “Trump Train” on the evening of Oct. 29 – the night before the incident with the bus, including nearly 1,000 vehicles, she said.
“Every week it got bigger and bigger and bigger,” she said, per the outlet.
Hall asked Randi Ceh if prior “Trump Trains” had a target or were “organized to intercept something,” but Ceh shot back, saying, “It sounds like you’re saying something happened, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A former President Donald Trump supporter in a pickup truck tails a Biden-Harris campaign bus in 2020. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Randi Ceh said she expected the Oct. 30 “Trump Train” to be like the prior ones the husband-and-wife duo had organized and that she wasn’t even meant to be part of the convoy and only briefly joined the group because it unfolded on her way home from work, per the San Antonio Express-News
Hall, via text screenshots, also described how Ceh had updated members of the Facebook group with information about the whereabouts of the bus which she had received through a text message chain with other “Trump Train” organizers.
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He also produced posts she had made in the group referring to Democrats as “Demoncrats” and being the “epitome of evil,” per the outlet.
Steve Ceh also took the stand on Monday, when Hall showed a video of the defendant at a gathering of Trump supporters in which he referred to Oct. 30 as a “good day” and called the people on the bus “socialists.” He described Trump Trains consisting of “a lot of prayer, a lot of faith, a family atmosphere,” per San Antonio Express-News.
The trial is scheduled to resume Tuesday.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Protests mark 1-year anniversary of federal agents storming L.A.’s Fashion District
Events and protests were held in downtown Los Angeles Saturday on the one-year anniversary of one of the largest immigration enforcement actions in California.
One June 6, 2025, federal agents stormed the L.A. Fashion District, arresting and detaining dozens of workers.
The enforcement action served as a catalyst, igniting a wave of subsequent raids across Southern California. In response, city leaders affirmed their “unwavering commitment to the immigrant communities” in Los Angeles, as events were held throughout the city to remember those who were deported and those whose immigration cases remain unresolved.
Protesters advocating for immigrant communities gathered outside a federal detention center in downtown Saturday, waving flags and signs. One woman was arrested during a clash with police.
The initial raid in the L.A. Garment District swept up workers, including the father of one woman who described the experience as “one of the most traumatic experiences” of their lives. This operation was among the first deportation actions that resulted in families being separated and triggered days of civil unrest.
At a commemoration event, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and the Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A. stood together, vowing to protect immigrant communities living in fear.
“We all felt attacked, and I think what’s so critical today, is to know and remember and acknowledge that this is still going on every day,” Bass said.
While the Department of Homeland Security maintains that its enforcement operations target criminals, families of those detained argue that immigration enforcement terrorizes hardworking people. These families contend that many immigrants pay taxes and contribute to society, even if they are not U.S. citizens.
Immigration attorneys report that thousands of individuals are still trying to locate their loved ones. They also highlighted that hundreds of people swept up in immigration raids last year remain detained in facilities, facing medical neglect, inhumane conditions and the denial of basic due process protections.
Watch the full report from KTLA’s Sara Welch in the video at the top of this story.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTLA. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTLA staff before being published.
Los Angeles, Ca
Pasadena motorist knocked unconscious in unprovoked assault after other driver flashes high beams at him
A motorist was rendered unconscious after what authorities are calling an unprovoked attack that occurred after another driver flashed their high beams at him, authorities say.
According to the Pasadena Police Department, the victim, a 63-year-old man, was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue near Washington Boulevard when a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction flashed him around 1 a.m. Saturday.
“The victim reported that he was driving northbound on Raymond Avenue from Washington Boulevard when he observed a vehicle traveling southbound flashing its high beams at him,” a Pasadena Police Department spokesperson confirmed to KTLA. “The victim stated he stopped his vehicle and exited. He was then assaulted by an unknown suspect. The assault was unprovoked.”
The attack left the man unconscious and with a three-inch deep laceration to his head, police added. Upon regaining consciousness, the man transported himself to Huntington Hospital, and it was around 1:20 a.m. when police responded there to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon and began their investigation.
Upon arriving at the hospital, the victim told police that, due to his injuries, he was not able to provide a description of a suspect, vehicle or the weapon used, nor was he able to tell police the exact location where the assault occurred, although it was confirmed to be somewhere near Raymond Avenue and Washington Boulevard. La Pintoresca Park is located near that intersection.
No further details were immediately available.
Anyone with any information on the incident is asked to contact the Pasadena Police Department right away.
Sofia Pop Perez contributed to this report.
Los Angeles, Ca
Woman killed by driver while crossing PCH in Long Beach
A woman was struck and killed by a driver while crossing the street on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.
On June 3, the female pedestrian was using the crosswalk at Pacific Coast Highway and Pacific Avenue around 4:50 a.m.
She had walked against a red light and was hit by a 19-year-old driver in a Chevy sedan, Long Beach police said.
Despite lifesaving efforts, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
“At this time, impaired driving, distracted driving and excessive speed are not believed to be a factor in this collision,” police said.
The woman’s name is being withheld pending identification by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has information on the incident is asked to call Detective Joseph Johnson at 562-570-7355.
Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
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