Texas police officers refused to escort a Biden campaign bus that was being surrounded by Trump supporters last fall, a federal lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit alleges that San Marcos officers refused to provide a police escort for the bus and “joked about the victims and their distress” in 911 audio from October 2020, when the bus was surrounded. The federal lawsuit was amended on Friday and included a transcription of the 911 call.
“I am so annoyed at New Braunfels for doing this to us,” a dispatcher told San Marcos police Cpl. Matthew Daenzer, who laughed, according to the transcription of the call. “They have their officers escorting this Biden bus, essentially, and the Trump Train is cutting in between vehicles and driving — being aggressive and slowing them down to like 20 or 30 miles per hour. And they want you guys to respond to help.”
DONALD TRUMP SEEN DOING TOMAHAWK CHOP AT ASTROS-BRAVES GAME WITH MELANIA
“No, we’re not going to do it,” Daenzer told the dispatcher, according to the suit. “We will ‘close patrol’ that, but we’re not going to escort a bus.”
Video of the incident shows vehicles sporting pro-Trump paraphernalia surrounding the Biden campaign bus and beeping their horns. A small collision was reported when a pro-Trump vehicle made contact with an SUV accompanying the Biden bus, according to Fox News.
We sent the @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris bus out of Hays! Your kind aren’t welcome here! This is #TrumpCountry #smtx #sanmarcos #MAGA #LatinosForTrump #Trump2020Landslide #LeadRight #AmericaFirst @realDonaldTrump @DonaldJTrumpJr @LaraLeaTrump @EricTrump @TrumpStudents @RidgeReaper68 pic.twitter.com/q2v2FRmNPr
— Naomi Narvaiz (@nytxnn) October 30, 2020
“[T]hey’re like really worked up over it and he’s like breathing hard and stuff, like, ‘they’re being really aggressive.’ Okay. Calm down,” the dispatcher allegedly told Daenzer about the Biden campaign team’s reaction to the Trump supporter. Daenzer reportedly said that the Biden bus should “drive defensively and it’ll be great.”
The dispatcher told the Biden campaign that no escort would be given and that “If you feel like you’re being threatened or your life is threatened, definitely call us back.”
The Biden team insisted they be given an escort, saying that their lives were at risk.
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“Are you kidding me, ma’am?” the staffer said to the dispatcher, according to the transcript, “they’ve threatened my life on multiple occasions with vehicular collision.”
The dispatcher turned down the request again.
The lawsuit, filed against San Marcos Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp and the San Marcos City Marshal’s Department, alleges that the city broke the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” passed in 1871, originally meant to protect black people from political violence from the Klan, the Texas Tribune reports.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the San Marcos Police Department for a comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
