Austin, TX
Texas
AUSTIN – A federal trial is set to begin Monday over claims that supporters of former President Donald Trump threatened and harassed a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Texas four years ago, disrupting the campaign on the last day of early voting.
Democrats on the bus said they feared for their lives as Trump supporters in dozens of trucks and cars nearly caused collisions, harassing their convoy for more than 90 minutes, hitting a Biden-Harris campaign staffer’s car and forcing the bus driver to repeatedly swerve for safety.
“For at least 90 minutes, defendants terrorized and menaced the driver and passengers,” the lawsuit alleges. “They played a madcap game of highway ‘chicken’ coming within three to four inches of the bus. They tried to run the bus off the road.”
The highway confrontation prompted an FBI investigation, which led then-President Trump to declare that in his opinion, “these patriots did nothing wrong.”
Among those suing is former Texas state senator from Fort Worth and Democratic nominee for governor Wendy Davis, who was on the bus that day. Davis rose to prominence in 2013 with her 13-hour filibuster of an anti-abortion bill in the state Capitol. The other three plaintiffs are a campaign volunteer, staffer and the bus driver.
Videos of the confrontation on Oct. 30, 2020, that were shared on social media, including some recorded by the Trump supporters, show a group of cars and pickup trucks — many adorned with large Trump flags — riding alongside the campaign bus as it traveled on I-35 from San Antonio to Austin. The Trump supporters at times boxed in the bus, slowed it down, kept it from exiting the highway and repeatedly forced the bus driver to make evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision, the lawsuit says.
On the two previous days, Biden-Harris supporters were subjected to death threats, with some Trump supporters displaying weapons, according to the lawsuit. These threats in combination with the highway confrontation led Democrats to cancel an event later in the day.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, accuses the six defendants of violating the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” an 1871 federal law to stop political violence and intimidation tactics. It alleges the defendants were members of local groups near San Antonio that coordinated the confrontation.
The same law was used in part to indict Trump on federal election interference charges over attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. Enacted by Congress during the Reconstruction Era, the law was created to protect Black men’s right to vote by prohibiting political violence.
Francisco Canseco, an attorney for three of the defendants, said his clients acted lawfully and did not infringe on the free speech rights of those on the bus.
“It’s more of a constitutional issue,” Canseco said. “It’s more of who has the greater right to speak behind their candidate.”
Judge Robert Pitman, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, is set to preside over the trial. He denied the defendants’ pretrial motion for a summary judgment in their favor, ruling last month that the KKK Act prohibits the physical intimidation of people traveling to political rallies, even when racial bias isn’t a factor.
While one of the defendants, Eliazar Cisneros, argued his group had a First Amendment right to demonstrate support for their candidate, the judge wrote that “assaulting, intimidating, or imminently threatening others with force is not protected expression.”
“Just as the First Amendment does not protect a driver waving a political flag from running a red light, it does not protect Defendants from allegedly threatening Plaintiffs with reckless driving,” Pitman wrote.
A prior lawsuit filed over the “Trump Train” alleged the San Marcos Police Department violated the Ku Klux Klan Act by failing to send a police escort after multiple 911 calls were made and a bus rider said his life was threatened. It accused officers of privately laughing and joking about the emergency calls. San Marcos settled the lawsuit in 2023 for $175,000 and a requirement that law enforcement get training on responding to political violence.
AUSTIN — The No. 3 Texas Longhorns secured their second straight 10-win season Saturday with a 31-14 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Senior Day at DKR.
Texas stayed steady on a day where the rest of the SEC experienced chaos, as three ranked teams lost to unranked opponents on the road. The Longhorns entered as the No. 3 team in the College Football Playoff rankings and the AP Poll, but their win wasn’t enough to move them ahead in the AP’s Week 13 release.
No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State all remained idle in the AP Poll. The Ducks were on a bye while the other three teams picked up wins. The Longhorns are one of eight SEC teams in the AP Top 25, joining No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 13 Alabama, No. 15 Ole Miss, No. 16 South Carolina, No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 24 Missouri.
Texas has now been No. 3 in the AP Poll for three straight weeks. The Longhorns have fallen to as low as No. 6 and have been as high as No. 1.
Now, Texas has arrived to one of the most anticipated weeks in the state’s college football history, as the Longhorns will travel to College Station for Saturday’s meeting with the Texas A&M Aggies. The renewed rivalry will kick off from Kyle Field at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ABC.
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Austin Empty Bowl Project 2024
Central Texas Food Bank hosted its annual Austin Empty Bowl Project on Sunday where attendees got to enjoy soup from local eateries, all to raise money for a good cause.
AUSTIN, Texas – The 28th annual Austin Empty Bowl Project brought in thousands for a good cause.
“We have over 30 restaurants, over 200 gallons of soup,” said project co-director Deb Dixon.
The event donates all proceeds to Kids Café, a program of the Central Texas Food Bank, and to Meals on Wheels Central Texas.
“The Central Texas Food Bank has school pantries where we have pantries in over five schools. We also have after-school meals and summer meals. And 1 in 4 children go to bed hungry in our service area. So, it’s critical that this event raises as much funds as possible to support those kids,” said CTFB president & CEO Sari Vaske.
Throughout the year, local Austin area potters make more than a thousand soup bowls and donate them to the project.
“We have our communities of potters, our restaurants and our musicians that have all come together and donated time and materials in support of something pretty terrific,” said Dixon.
At the event each year, attendees give a donation, pick out a ceramic bowl, choose from several soups from different restaurants, listen to live music and bid in a silent auction.
After lunch, guests take their bowls home as a reminder that others less fortunate have empty bowls.
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“There’s over 530,000 people that don’t know where their next meal is going to come from throughout 21 counties. So, this event supports those families,” said Vaske.
For Pflugerville resident Kim Hanson, supporting the Empty Bowl Project has become a special tradition. Every year for the past 20 years, she’s celebrated her birthday by attending the event.
This year, for her 40th, she took it up a notch—bringing 40 friends and family along to give back and make her special day even more meaningful.
“I just think it’s really important for the community to help to support each other. And this goes to support people in our community that need food. And it helps with the children who don’t have enough to eat throughout the year. So, I love to come and support this mission,” said Hanson.
Hanson says she hopes to continue the tradition for years to come.
You can find more information about the Austin Empty Bowl Project here.
The Source: Information in this report came from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin’s Jenna King.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas had a strong showing on OpenTable’s 2024 Top 100 Restaurants with 10 establishments making the list.
The Lone Star State had the second-most restaurants on the list, tied with Illinois, behind California, which had a whopping 19 restaurants featured.
The best foodie city in Texas, at least according to OpenTable, was Austin, with seven restaurants making the list.
- Aba – Austin
- J Carver’s
- Jeffrey’s Restaurant
- Red Ash Italia
- Sammie’s Italian
- Uchi Austin
- Uchiko Austin
The rest of Texas’ major metropolitan areas–Houston, Dallas and San Antonio–each only had one restaurant on the list.
- Steak 48 – Houston
- Signature – San Antonio
- Hudson House – Lovers Lane – Dallas
OpenTable compiles its top 100 list every year by looking at diner reviews from its 14 million verified users.
According to OpenTable’s website, restaurants with enough reviews are automatically considered and are evaluated by their ratings, percentage of five-star reviews, number of alerts set, percentage of reservations made in advance, percentage of capacity and direct searches.
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