Texas: Trump Mobs Harass “Biden Bus,” Force Cancellation of Campaign Events

November 1, 2020 | revcom.us

 

On Friday, October 30, a “Biden bus” travelling in Texas from San Antonio to Austin was harassed and threatened by a large number of fascists. A long line of vehicles flying Trump and pro-police flags lay in wait, then swarmed the bus as it drove north. In some images of the incident, the Biden bus appears to be completely boxed in by vehicles with Trump regalia. Rafael Anchía, a member of the Texas House of Representatives, tweeted, “Armed Trump trolls harassing Biden Bus on I-35, ramming volunteer vehicles & blocking traffic for 40 mins.” Democratic Party officials cancelled a Friday campaign event in Pflugerville, an Austin suburb.

At a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania, Trump enthused about the attack on the Biden bus, “Did anybody see the picture of that crazy bus driving down the highway, they’re surrounded by like, hundreds of cars? They’re all Trump flags all over the place.” Then he tweeted, “I LOVE TEXAS.”

The bus, part of the Biden/Harris campaign’s “Battle for the Soul of the Nation” tour, contained prominent Texas Democrats. They included the mayor of Austin and Wendy Davis, whose bold filibuster in the Texas Capitol in 2013 temporarily blocked a bill attacking abortion rights—an action that galvanized the state and earned her the hatred of Christian fascists.

Fascist attacks on Biden/Harris supporters are getting increasingly aggressive as the election nears. Just in Texas, just this past week:

• October 28—Trump supporters drove to a polling station in a Black community, escorted by Ft. Worth police. They were confronted and stopped by dozens of neighborhood people.
• October 29—A so-called “Trump Train” descended on a Houston suburb where Julián Castro, a former presidential candidate, and Al Green, a congressman who was among the first to call for Trump’s impeachment, led a rally for Democratic Party candidates. A small crew from Refuse Fascism heard about this and went to the site, where they joined with others in standing up to the fascists. One Black man said to a Refuse Fascism member, “We will not be intimidated. They cannot bring that shit here.”
• October 31—A federal judge set a hearing for Monday, the day before election day, on a Republican petition demanding a halt to drive-thru voting and that nearly 127,000 ballots already cast via drive-thru voting in Harris County be invalidated. Harris County, where Houston is located, is the most populous county in Texas and is heavily Democratic. (The Republicans filed a very similar petition in Texas state courts, which was rejected by the Texas Supreme Court on Sunday, November 1. But the federal court could still rule to toss out the votes on Monday.)

Dr. Eric Cervini, a historian of LGBTQ+ politics and culture, was at the scene when the bus travelling to Austin was attacked. In a series of tweets, he wrote: “These Trump supporters ... outnumbered police 50-1, and they ended up hitting a staffer’s car.... The police refused to help. When I flagged down one officer, he said his hands were tied: ‘not my jurisdiction.’... as a historian who studied the rise of the Third Reich, I can tell you: this is how a democracy dies. While Germany still had elections and Hitler was merely a disgraced politician, his militia of Brownshirts interrupted his opponents’ political meetings and incited violence. You know what happened next.”

Violent fascist attacks to steal the vote and suppress Black and Latinx voters are likely to intensify and become more aggressive up to and beyond election day, as these Nazis move to advance their rolling fascist coup. People must vote against Trump, in massive numbers. And anyone who opposes a fascist takeover of this country, and all that will mean for humanity and the planet, must actively oppose these thuggish attempts at intimidation, in massive numbers, in nonviolent protests, to confront and defeat the assaults of these Nazis.

 

---

Sources:

Trump Train swarms Biden bus on 1-35, and Trump is delighted, Statesman, October 31, 2020

Trump Cheers on MAGA Caravan That Ambushed Biden Bus, Buzzfeed, October 31, 2020

Democrats Cancel Rallies after Trump Train Swarms Biden Bus, Sparking Safety Fears, My Canyon Lake, October 31, 2020

Biden event in Texas cancelled as ‘armed’ Trump supporters threaten campaign bus, The Independent, October 31, 2020

 

A film of the scene from Dr. Eric Cervini:

These tactics have no place in Texas, my home state, and no place in America.

Please vote. Please volunteer this weekend. The future of our democracy is at stake. pic.twitter.com/G0O4yg2vnJ

— Dr. Eric Cervini (@ericcervini) October 31, 2020