Austin, Texas — Hannah Ceh and Kyle Kruger, two of the eight defendants in the Cervini v. Cisneros case, have agreed to settle the suit brought against them for conspiring as part of a “Trump Train” convoy to harass and intimidate campaign workers on a Biden-Harris campaign bus in Texas shortly before the 2020 election. In light of the settlement, today plaintiffs filed papers to dismiss them from the suit.

The lawsuit was filed by Protect Democracy, the Texas Civil Rights Project, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher on behalf of four plaintiffs, who are seeking damages and a determination that the Trump Train convoy violated the campaign workers’ rights to advocate on behalf of their candidate in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 — a law Congress passed to combat political violence and voter intimidation as part of elections.

The details of the settlement are confidential but include apologies from the defendants which are copied below.

“On October 30, 2020, I was a passenger in a truck driving as part of a ‘Trump Train’ on Interstate 35 Highway between Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I learned about the Trump Train group planning to meet ahead of time from social media and communicated through social media and text about when a Trump Train group would be meeting up to go after the Biden-Harris campaign bus as it drove through our community. While riding as a passenger in a truck that was participating in the Trump Train by driving closely to the Biden campaign bus, I took videos that I later posted to social media. In a post I used the hashtag ‘operation block the bus,’ which I felt at the time described how the Trump Train vehicles surrounded the Biden campaign bus while it drove down the highway. We continued to drive along with the other Trump Train vehicles surrounding the bus to Austin because we wanted to stay with the other members of our group as they drove. After the Biden campaign abandoned the rest of their bus tour I sent a text saying that ‘we canceled them,’ as at the time I felt we had succeeded in our efforts to send a message that the Biden campaign bus should not stop for any more events in Texas because it was not supported by our community or welcome in it. Looking back, I would have done things differently. I do not feel that I was thinking things through at the time, and I apologize to the occupants of the bus for my part in actions that day that frightened or intimidated them.” – Hannah Ceh

“On October 30, 2020, I drove in a group of vehicles in a ‘Trump Train’ on Interstate 35 Highway between Austin and San Antonio, Texas. I learned from social media and other participants where a Trump Train group planned to meet ahead of time to go after the Biden-Harris campaign bus as it drove through our part of Texas. I drove to that Trump Train gathering, where I found out from others when and where the bus was going to be. We intentionally drove close to the bus from New Braunfels to Austin to make sure we achieved our objective: that they got our message that we opposed what the Biden campaign stood for and that we did not want them in our community or our state. As part of my participation in the Trump Train, I drove in ways that posed some risk to the Biden campaign bus, its passengers, and others on the road.  I knew that my driving was risky, but I wanted to express my opposition to their campaign and send them a message to leave my community. While I regret now participating in such risky activity, and apologize to the occupants of the bus for my part in the actions that day, at the time I and other Trump Train participants were happy that, after our actions, the Biden campaign canceled the rest of the bus tour.” – Kyle Kruger