Southwest
'Trump Train' trial: Bus driver says he felt 'under attack' during interstate clash
The driver of a Biden-Harris campaign bus told jurors on Wednesday that he felt “under attack” when the bus he was driving was swarmed by a convoy of former President Trump supporters on a busy Texas interstate days before the 2020 presidential election.
On the third day of the “Trump train trial,” bus driver Timothy Holloway testified that he felt threatened during the incident when dozens of vehicles adorned with large Trump flags surrounded the bus along Interstate 35 as it made its way to a campaign event.
“I was the captain of the ship. I was the pilot of the plane,” a tearful Holloway told the seven-person jury, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “I don’t know what they’re trying to do.”
‘TRUMP TRAIN’ TRIAL KICKS OFF WITH FORMER DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER TESTIFYING SHE FELT LIKE A ‘HOSTAGE’
A Trump supporter in a pick-up truck tails a Biden-Harris campaign bus in 2020. (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Holloway said he had a clenching feeling in his stomach and sweaty palms as he worked to stay calm during the Oct. 30, 2020, incident, saying the “Trump Train” drivers forced him to slow down to speeds as low as 5 or 10 miles per hour.
Holloway, along with former Democratic Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis, a campaign volunteer and a staffer, is suing six Trump supporters who were part of the convoy that day, accusing them of political intimidation in a federal civil case that kicked off Monday.
The plaintiffs say those Trump supporters are responsible for assault and political intimidation tactics, including 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 lawsuit, filed in 2021, seeks punitive and compensatory damages.
The defendants — Steve Ceh, Randi Ceh, Robert Mesaros, Joeylynn Mesaros, Eliazar Cisneros and Dolores Park — say they were merely supporting Trump “in a very loud way,” an attorney has said.
The plaintiffs say the group attempted to run the bus off the road along Interstate 35 and 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 plaintiffs argue that some of those in the convoy appeared to believe that Kamala Harris, then a candidate for vice president, might be aboard, though she was not.
A pick-up truck in Seaford, New York, on Oct. 18, 2020, with American flags. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
Holloway on Wednesday testified he got an “eerie feeling” when he saw the Trump supporters’ vehicles lined up along the interstate waiting for the bus around the Solms Road exit near New Braunfels, the San Antonio Express-News reports. He said that the “Trump Train” drivers caused several near-collisions and forced Holloway to repeatedly swerve to avoid crashing, adding that if he had tried to navigate the bus through the group of vehicles, it might have led to deaths.
“I can’t really outrun these cars,” Holloway said. “You have to do whatever the car in front of you does.”
Erin Mersino, a defense attorney, asked Holloway why he didn’t pull off the freeway and seek safety at a police station if he felt threatened. Holloway replied saying that there are usually stoplights on the frontage roads along the highway, where the “Trump Train” drivers might have surrounded the stopped bus, per the outlet.
Mersino said Halloway could have run the lights if he were really in fear for his life.
Theron Bowman, a former police official who is working as a paid expert witness for the plaintiffs’ attorneys, also took the stand on Wednesday, as well as on Tuesday, and testified that the “Trump Train” drivers posed a “serious threat” to traffic safety and that their actions appeared “very coordinated,” the San Antonio Express-News reports.
He noted that one driver — Robert Mesaros — pulled in front of the bus to stop on the shoulder, while Bowman said he could see a pattern of the drivers working together to surround the bus.
TRUMP-BIDEN HIGHWAY INCIDENT IN TEXAS MAY HAVE BEEN WHITE SUV’S FAULT, POLICE SAY; MORE INVESTIGATION PLANNED
A pick-up truck with Trump flags flanks a Biden-Harris campaign bus (John Hinojosa via Storyful)
Mesaros’ attorney argued that his client had stopped on the shoulder due to damage to a state of Texas flag that was flying from the back of his truck and that he only pulled in front of the bus when Holloway honked the horn, interpreting the honk as a signal to go ahead and pull over.
Bowman countered, saying that Holloway made a sustained honk of his horn, indicating for him to “get out of my way.”
“The option that he took was probably the least safe option that he had at that moment,” Bowman said, per the San Antonio Express-News.
Bowman also said that video showed a line of “Trump Train” drivers in front of the bus braking at the same time to slow it down.
He also pointed to cell phone videos filmed by Dolores Park, one of the defendants, where she can be heard saying: “They try to break us up, but it doesn’t work … there’s too many of us.” She can also be heard in the video describing how she could “scoot over” in front of a semi-truck to let more drivers join the convoy.
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On Monday, Davis, who was also on the bus, testified that she felt like she was being “taken hostage in a way.”
“It was a day that was very different from anything I experienced campaigning,” said Davis, who testified that she felt riddled with fear and anxiety.
The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A 23-year-old man from Long Beach is in custody following a deadly hit-and-run crash in Riverside County Saturday.
The crash happened around 8:09 a.m. near the intersection of Dinah Shore Drive and George Montgomery Way in the city of Rancho Mirage, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies responded and found one of the involved drivers, 57-year-old Teresa Bowlin of Cathedral City, dead at the scene. The other driver, Tyler Conant of Long Beach, ran from the scene of the crash, according to the sheriff’s department.
“During the investigation, it was determined that Conant was under the influence of alcohol [at the time of the crash],” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
Conant was arrested and booked into the John Benoit Detention Center for murder and felony hit-and-run.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Deputy Bret Meservey at (760) 836-1600.
Long Beach will hold a pride festival this weekend after the one they originally had scheduled was canceled.
Long Beach city officials said the celebration was nixed after the nonprofit that organizes it, Long Beach Pride, failed to submit the required information for an event permit.
It was supposed to start on Friday and last through Sunday.
“Despite continued collaboration and multiple deadline notices, the City did not receive the required documentation needed to complete safety reviews, inspect critical event infrastructure, such as the stage, electrical systems and tent, and emergency exiting plans to ensure compliance with public safety standards,” the city of Long Beach said in a statement. “With event programming scheduled to begin on May 15 at 5 p.m. with Teen Pride and essential information still outstanding, there is no longer sufficient time to safely permit the festival this year.”
Officials noted that they were working to see if a “shortened event” could be held this weekend, and indeed, an agreement was reached to stage a one-day gathering on Sunday.
Billed as “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” and emceed by comedian and drag queen Jewels, it will still bring the city’s LGBTQ community together after Sunday morning’s Long Beach Pride Parade, which was not canceled.
“Long Beach Pride weekend is a culmination of celebrations put on by our community, including our many vibrant restaurants, bars and businesses, and that will never change,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said in a press release issued late Saturday night. “Along with the Pride Parade, we are proud to join the party with this new event that reaffirms what this City has always stood for: that every person belongs here.”
“The festival may have been canceled, but Long Beach drag artists don’t cancel joy,” added Jewels Long Beach.
The one-day “Canceled? Never Heard of Her!” festival will take place at Bixby Park from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. A free event, it will include music by several performers and a drag show.
More information can be found here.
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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