Texas police officers refused to escort Biden bus, lawsuit alleges: ‘Threatened my life’
San Marcos police ‘privately laughed’ about the incident in 911 audio recordings, the suit alleges
Police officials in Texas refused to escort a Biden campaign bus that was surrounded by Trump supporters last October, an amended lawsuit alleges.
San Marcos police “privately laughed” and “joked about the victims and their distress” in 911 audio recordings, according to the suit. The federal lawsuit was amended late Friday with transcriptions of the 911 recordings.
Video from Oct. 30, 2020, shows a group of cars and pick-up trucks flying Trump 2020 flags driving alongside the Biden campaign bus on a highway, and boxing the bus in at some points. A minor traffic incident also occurred, when a pro-Trump truck made contact with a white SUV accompanying the Biden campaign bus. Both cars continued moving during the incident.
“No, we’re not going to do it,” Daenzer told a 911 dispatcher, according to the amended filing. “We will ‘close patrol’ that, but we’re not going to escort a bus.”
“[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 told Daenzer, explaining how the Biden campaign team was feeling during the incident.
Daenzer said the Biden bus should “drive defensively and it’ll be great.”
“Or leave the train,” the 911 dispatcher responded, according to the transcript. “There’s an idea.”
The dispatcher got back on the line with the Biden campaign staff and said no escort would be provided to them from San Marcos.
“If you feel like you’re being threatened or your life is threatened, definitely call us back,” she told him.
“Are you kidding me, ma’am?” the staffer responded, and said “they’ve threatened my life on multiple occasions with vehicular collision.” The staffer then again asked for an escort.