General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTexas cops refused to send escort to Biden bus
Updated 'Trump Train' 911 transcripts reveal Texas cops refused to send escort to Biden bus
Kate Mcgee, The Texas Tribue
October 30, 2021
As supporters of then-President Donald Trump surrounded and harassed a Joe Biden campaign bus on a Central Texas highway last year, San Marcos police officials and 911 dispatchers fielded multiple requests for assistance from Democratic campaigners and bus passengers who said they feared for their safety from a pack of motorists, known as a "Trump Train," allegedly driving in dangerously aggressive ways.
"San Marcos refused to help," an amended federal lawsuit over the 2020 freeway skirmish claims.
Transcribed 911 audio recordings and documents that reveal behind-the-scenes communications among law enforcement and dispatchers were included in the amended lawsuit, filed late Friday.
The transcribed recordings were filed in an attempt to show that San Marcos law enforcement leaders chose not to provide the bus with a police escort multiple times, even though police departments in other nearby cities did. In one transcribed recording, Matthew Daenzer, a San Marcos police corporal on duty the day of the incident, refused to provide an escort when recommended by another jurisdiction.
More at:
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-train-lawsuit/

Champp
(2,254 posts)No honor, no respect for America.
KPN
(16,937 posts)county and city positions, county commissions, etc. To ultimately seize control and impose their will seems to be the essence of their "higher calling".
Nay
(12,051 posts)they've been at it for 40 years and have even infiltrated the Dem party itself.
Yeahokisee
(10 posts)Great history on this podcast of the Neo Nazi movement in Chicago in the 80's (they highjacked the skinhead movement). The old Klan members told the Neo Nazis to drop the Doc Martin Boots and shaved heads. Instead, put on the uniform and become cops, ICE, and FBI agents. They said that is where they could wield real power. They did and 20 years later, the older ones are ingrained in these institutions and recruiting new ones everyday.
walkingman
(9,923 posts)mucifer
(25,349 posts)ancianita
(42,131 posts)live love laugh
(15,958 posts)ancianita
(42,131 posts)I ask because it doesn't seem like a parallel example of protecting campaign people.
live love laugh
(15,958 posts)ancianita
(42,131 posts)Response to ancianita (Reply #51)
live love laugh This message was self-deleted by its author.
Yeahokisee
(10 posts)The largest Neo-Nazi movement was in Chicago in the 80's. They were told by Klan members to join the police force, ICE, and the FBI because that's where they could really gain control. All this actually started in Chicago. I was born and raised in Chicago and was into the punk scene in Chicago when the Neo Nazis started imitating the skinheads, who were just in the music scene. They dressed like them and the skinheads would beat them up but they eventually couldn't control it. You should listen to that podcast. It's eye-opening!
luv2fly
(2,527 posts)They'll likely be promoted.
lark
(25,524 posts)It's the reason I haven't driven through Texas in 32 years, too many crazy mean folks who actively try to hurt you if you are different or even just from a different state like CA. There are some good people there, I even have a few relatives with sense, though certainly not all of them. But to travel through the state and stop in any small town in TX, LA, & MS is unsafe if you are from out of state or aren't a straight white male. This is based on sad personal experiences.
Hope Justice Dept. can hurt them for their dereliction of duty and deliberately letting injury occur - whatever the legal terms for those are.
kimbutgar
(26,193 posts)Driving from the Grand Canyon to Phoenix this guy in a huge pick up truck aggressively drove in front of our car with our California license plates and spewed this toxic smoke and blew a horn and then kept cutting us off. We finally pulled into a shopping center for awhile and he finally left us alone, we didnt have any political stickers or anything but the California plates triggered him.
lark
(25,524 posts)Sadly, things have changed for the worst in this country over the past 15 years, the neo-nazis have become so much more in charge..
kimbutgar
(26,193 posts)This happened in 2017 after assolini was elected. In the Phoenix area we never have problems. And occasionally people will tell us they miss living in California!
3catwoman3
(27,857 posts)...with the AF nurse corps, in 1976 and 77. I had grown up in western upstate NY. Texas felt alien to me in many ways. I had a definite feeling that, "If you ain't from Texas, you ain't shit." Never any law enforcement encounters, but had there been any, my NY license plates would probably not have been helpful.
My second tour of duty was in Japan, and I felt much more at home there.
DENVERPOPS
(13,003 posts)has to have some other state to Hate..........Wyoming hates Coloradans, Colorado Natives hate Texans, etc etc
Wyoming has a favorite saying: How do you know when it's spring in Wyoming? It turns green......(Colorado Plates are green)
Interesting that the most common out of state plates we are seeing in Colorado these past six months are Texas Plates.....
They seem to be coming here in droves for some reason??????????
I have NEVER driven through Nebraska without being pulled over by the state patrol. Not Once...... No infraction, just pulled over to seemingly be harassed for no other reason than having a Colorado Plate. (These days it is different because of the transport of Colorado Weed being transported to the east.......)
My last Nebraska stop: I was driving a small toyota pickup. Nebraska State Patrol pulls me over. "Do you know it is state law in Nebraska for all trucks to have mud flaps????????????" Me: "Yes sir, I know, but I'm from Colorado with a Colorado License Plate. Cop: "I know, that's why I pulled you over" WTF????????? Seemed to make perfect sense to him.
Sadly, these days, it seems that Every Group Has Some Other Group To Hate............WASF Putin must have a permanent smile on his face........
3catwoman3
(27,857 posts)
School of Nursing - 1980 and 81. I totally loved living in Denver, and wish we could go back. The low humidity, 300+ days of sunshine a year, all that the city had to offer, and in an hour you could be up in the mountains and not know you were anywhere near a city. What more could you ask? And I dont even ski.
Probably couldnt afford a house there now, from what I hear.
aggiesal
(10,361 posts)cinematicdiversions
(1,969 posts)aggiesal
(10,361 posts)ShazzieB
(21,714 posts)I also love the way Iowa and Nebraska seem to have a mutual hate society. Each of those states hates the other one more than any other.
I wish I knew why Wisconsin hates Illinois, though. Most Illinoisians I know love Wisconsin (except maybe some who haven't been there to see how nice it is).
I'll admit I'm not a fan of Wisconsin politics these days. (The governor is great, but other than that, meh.) But I love the state as a whole. For scenic beauty, it has Illinois beat 6 ways from Sunday.
LeftInTX
(34,006 posts)Both Chicago and Green Bay were racing to get access from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, but Chicago got there first.
Once they got the ship route, Chicago grew exponentially and left Green Bay in the dust. Wisconsin never completed their project.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_and_Michigan_Canal
Nowadays, Illinois residents vacation in Wisconsin and tend to drive faster than Wisconsin residents. "There go the cars with the Illinois plates".....
ShazzieB
(21,714 posts)I did not know about this history and look forward to reading this.
Seems to me this is probably also at least related to why some Packers fans seem to hate the Bears with such a particular intensity!
I was really worried when going to a family reunion in Weatherford (between Ft.Worth & Dallas) and I was really worried about my relatives, because I know there are several branches that are so rural and poor, they were probably drumpfers. My favorite aunts were 94 and 92, and it would probably be my last time to see them so it was important to me to go. There wasn't much family from either of the country cousins sides and they kind of kept to themselves so that was great. Another of my cousins whose sisters I am close to was actually worried about me! Not long after he arrived I went up to him and his sisters. Brian was glad to see him and said I know we disagree on politics (Debbie had warned him to not talk to me about politics) but we are family so can we put that aside and just be cousins for today. It turned out to be a totally amazing day, so full of love!
Jedi Guy
(3,389 posts)I grew up on the Gulf Coast near Biloxi, and it's more cosmopolitan than the rest of the state. With the advent of the casinos, lots of people from out of state started frequenting the area and it's pretty much dependent on those tourists now, so the "southern hospitality" gets rolled out. Hattiesburg (University of Southern Mississippi), Oxford (Ole Miss), and Jackson are also okay.
The interior of the state is another matter entirely, though. I went to Ole Miss for my first semester of university, and the drive north to Oxford was very uncomfortable except for Hattiesburg and Jackson. I was a skater kid in the late 90s, so I was wearing the bigass JNCO jeans, Airwalks, band shirts, etc., and I vividly remember feeling very ill at ease stopping for gas in some of those little towns.
On one occasion I pulled into a gas station and had a Marilyn Manson album playing on my stereo in the car. While I was filling up, these three good ol' boys were standing out by their trucks, and from the way they were eyeballing me I was pretty sure I was about to get jumped. They didn't end up doing anything, but from the way they were looking at me, it was pretty clear that they wanted to kick my ass. If it had been darker out or they'd been drunker, things might have gone badly.
After that I always made damn sure to stop in Jackson, fill up the tank, and take a leak so I wouldn't have to stop between there and Oxford. There are a lot of things about the south that I really miss, but good ol' boys aren't one of those things.
lark
(25,524 posts)Husband at the time was a in a rock band and had very long hair and a great big beard and I had really long curly hair and giant octagon pink wire rim glasses. We were with the entire family, all of the rest of whom were very straight, and were in dads car so they didn't see our CA license plates. We still got hasseled in the diner, big ole' boys were talking about long hair faggots that weren't from these parts and how can you tell who is a boy and who is a girl and what should be done to them to teach them a lesson? Pissed me off that they would worry my sweet 70 year old mother & dad with such shit.
RULE TO LIVE BY:
In the south, when traveling out of town, only stop in big towns in ok areas to eat and get gas, otherwise you are risking trouble. We never drive to NOLA always fly because the drive just isn't safe with all the asshole rednecks around. I made this rule 40 years ago and abide by it to this day.
Lovie777
(20,581 posts)is another shitty move.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,343 posts)Supposedly, the reason "good cops" do nothing about "bad cops" is that they will always provide each other's backup and the "good" cops never know when their lives will depend on a "bad" one.
At least, that's the justification I always hear.
This tactic sounds like they want to purge all but rightwing militant types.
Dustlawyer
(10,532 posts)Their families will be threatened or worse. Texas cops who vote for Dems do so silently and pretend to be Republican for the same reason they dont speak up when another officer is abusive.
*snip*
Once (Ryans) fellow officers learned she supported Hillary Clinton for president in 2016 and marched against Trump, they refused to partner with her and purposely stalled in backing her up during dangerous calls, the newspaper reports. The day after the election, a fellow officer texted her a picture of a message written on the roll-call white board of her precinct: 4th Precinct Mids Making America Great Again.'
RAB910
(4,030 posts)Irish_Dem
(75,826 posts)I guess Texas has not changed at all.
Almost 60 years since JFK was killed there.
PCIntern
(27,676 posts)Adlai told him to cancel his trip.
ancianita
(42,131 posts)whathehell
(30,275 posts)Sorry, but I don't know what you mean. I remember JFK's assassination (I was 3 days shy of my 13th birthday), so I take a particular interest when it's referenced.
ancianita
(42,131 posts)
whathehell
(30,275 posts)I have no idea what that wing nut poster has to do with my question.
ancianita
(42,131 posts)and "Almost 60 years since JFK was killed there."
I was agreeing that it's still as open season on Dems as it was 60 years since JFK was killed there, and even before he was killed there, when Kennedy chose TX Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson as his VP running mate.
Below, I posted sources that show how TX had it in for Kennedy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/upshot/kennedy-lbj-and-a-disputed-deer-hunt.html
https://news.utexas.edu/2013/11/18/why-jfk-died-in-dallas/
In Texas, the Baptist convention passed a resolution "cautioning members against voting for a Roman Catholic candidate" a measure echoed across a handful of other states buoyed by the argument that a Catholic president would put loyalty to the Pope ahead of loyalty to the United States. Just weeks after his election, a virulently anti-Catholic retired postal worker tried to assassinate Kennedy in Florida
After the botched Bay of Pigs invasion, Kennedy became a curse word among many Cuban exiles who blamed the president for abandoning their brothers on the beaches to Fidel Castro. Even a half-century later, the community's anger continues.
On the flip-side of the aisle, the far-Right wing John Birch Society mouthpiece, American Opinion, accused Kennedy of "shameless intimidation, bribery, and blackmail" which compelled "weaklings in Congress to approve treasonable acts designed to disarm us and make us the helpless prey of the affiliated criminals and savages of the United Nations".
President Kennedy also confronted the forerunners of the modern "patriot group" militia movement, warning that "armed bands of civilian guerrillas that are more likely to supply local vigilantes than national vigilance".
And days before Kennedy's assassination, thousands of fliers were distributed in downtown Dallas, featuring a mugshot photo of Kennedy over the words "Wanted for Treason."
And then there was doubt within and about LBJ himself.
Recalling his feelings years later, in retirement, he said that, even after he had taken the oath, for millions of Americans I was still illegitimate, a naked man with no presidential covering, a pretender to the throne, an illegal usurper. And then there was Texas, my home, the home of . . . the murder. . . . And then there were the bigots and the dividers and the Eastern intellectuals, who were waiting to knock me down before I could even begin to stand up.
He seems to have felt even in this first hour that the best way to legitimatize his ascent to the throne, to make himself seem less like a usurper, would be to demonstrate that his ascent had the support of his predecessors family. The decision to be sworn in immediately, in Dallas, instead of waiting until he returned to Washington, had been made, but he wanted that decision to be approved by the man whose approval would carry the most weight.
There were, of course, reasons for him not to call Robert Kennedy, reasons for him to obtain the information he wanted from someone elsefrom anyone else. The questions he askedcould the swearing in take place in Dallas? what was the wording of the oath? who could administer it?were not complicated questions, and could have been answered by any one of a hundred government officials...
Kennedy called Katzenbach, saying, They want to swear him in right away, in Texas. Thats not necessary, is it? No, not necessary, Katzenbach replied. And when Kennedy asked who could swear him in, Katzenbach said, Anyone who can administer an oath, a category that included any federal judge or hundreds of other government officials; the place or the exact time of the swearing in didnt matter. You become President when the President diesthats accepted. Its not a question.
My parents completely accept you as family. They just dont like you.
Katzenbach later said that he agreed that an immediate swearing in, while not necessary, was desirable, given its symbolic significance. But he was absolutely stunned that Johnson had made the call to Bobby Kennedy so soon after his brothers death. Any number of federal officials could have given Johnson the information he was seeking, he said. He could have called me. I was in my office. He felt that Johnson might have made the call because he may have wanted to be absolutely sure that there wouldnt be an explosion from Bobbys endwanted to insure that Bobby would not later say that the immediate swearing in showed a lack of respect for the dead President. But, he said, given Bobbys feelings about Johnson, and about his brother, the fact that Johnson called Bobby so soon after his brothers death frankly appalled him. Calling Bobby was really wrong.
And then there's today:

So if you still have no idea, I don't know what more to tell you.
whathehell
(30,275 posts)filling in the blanks, as it were, you've no need to "tell" me anything more.
ancianita
(42,131 posts)That one word was a complete sentence.
whathehell
(30,275 posts)
ancianita
(42,131 posts)You forgot the end mark of your incomplete sentence; by your standards I should have said I just don't know what you mean, but that would be trifling.
whathehell
(30,275 posts)You can't let it go, can you?
ShazzieB
(21,714 posts)JFK picked LBJ for his running mate/v.p., and LBJ became president when JFK was assassinated. Why would that be a reason for Texas to hate Dems?
I'm lost!
ancianita
(42,131 posts)What. Are you shocked? Did you think they were friends? That Kennedy's choice was anything other than strategic? You're also questioning Irish_Dems and the others who agree with him/her, right? or is it just me? I lived during those times, and Kennedy's choice was only one reason, and a sufficient reason, in their minds, for Texas to hate Dems. Nothing personal, just regional politics that go all the way back to a previous century.
Easy for Chris Rock to joke back in the day about there never being a black vice president, but many Texans don't joke.
Hate is a strong word, often carelessly used. But the feelings of fear and loathing of Kennedy were sharp in Dallas from the time Kennedy was elected. People there were glad "the bastard was dead."
Dallas had just simply become, in an almost initially unlikely way, the headquarters of the anti-Kennedy, Lets overthrow Kennedy movement, Minutaglio said in an interview with NPR. He was perceived to be a traitor. He was a socialist, he was on bended knee to so many different entities communism, socialism and even the pope.
https://news.utexas.edu/2013/11/18/why-jfk-died-in-dallas/
We should not forget that not just race issues drove North/South culture differences; they drove sharply felt politics in Texas, where Easterners were seen as commie-marxist elites and "effete snobs" and "limousine liberals." The white supremacist culture built on a deflective berating of liberals has a long history in the South and West. So yes, Dems were distrusted, and after JFK's assassination, don't think they didn't double down.
The last time a Democratic candidate won any statewide election in Texas was 1994. That year, a Democrat won each of the following statewide seats: Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller, State Treasurer, Land Commissioner and Place 1 on the Texas Supreme Court.
To find the last time a Democratic presidential nominee took Texas, you have to go back to 1976, when Jimmy Carter was elected President, beating Republican candidate Gerald Ford.
https://www.ksat.com/vote-2020/2020/11/06/has-texas-ever-turned-blue/
And Carter was a one off because he was Southern. Texas along with the rest of the South, can return to its dixiecrat roots, which do still weigh heavy on its purple momentum.
I don't want to pigeon hole that state, but it's taken a lot of work for Democrats to survive in Texas politics, driven by a race/immigration public face and a fossil fuel back room force.
Here's a longer look at Johnson. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/02/the-transition
Lonestarblue
(12,957 posts)Theyre trying to stir up fear of crime so voters will support Prop A, which requires the city to fund thousands of new police officers with a formula that mandates two police officers for every thousand people in the city. If passed, it will force the city to spend millions more on the police while also forcing them to seriously cut other public services like mental health services, park maintenance, fire prevention, etc. Most other public groups, like the Fire Department, have come out against Prop A, but its Republican proponents have heavily pushed their claims about increased crime in Austin and of course have not mentioned that crime is up in most major cities. Republicans here dont what happens to anyone but them.
OldBaldy1701E
(9,251 posts)Texans look for any excuse to pretend they are still in the Wild West, so having the police shirking their duty will just get more incidents of dead people laying just inside the door (remember, drag them inside if you shoot them, to make sure you are within your rights). Turning neighborhoods into combat zones will certainly get people motivated, but it may not be in the way the rethugs want. We will see, I guess.
ancianita
(42,131 posts)jaxexpat
(7,794 posts)What could go wrong?
underpants
(193,373 posts)mountain grammy
(28,279 posts)always has been because law enforcement only applied to certain people. Not just Texas.
OldBaldy1701E
(9,251 posts)Evolve Dammit
(21,267 posts)like this at work" (factual, open, liberal discussion) freely around other cops.
Joe Nation
(1,112 posts)Spoiled rotten kids with a little power.
Wingus Dingus
(9,173 posts)The cops in San Marcos let it happen. Politically-driven inaction by police to allow a breach of public safety like this--sickening.
Wingus Dingus
(9,173 posts)to catch up to the bus":
https://www.kxan.com/news/local/hays/fbi-investigating-alleged-incident-involving-trump-supporters-biden-campaign-bus/
San Marcos Police said it received a call from the Biden-Harris bus requesting a police escort as they traveled through the city. However, when officers responded, they werent able to catch up with the bus before it got out of their jurisdiction because of traffic.
In a follow-up email to KXAN on Monday, spokesperson Kristy Stark said there was an unrelated car crass on IH35 that forced traffic to a halt. She says that impaired the officers ability to reach the bus which never stopped traveling on IH35 as it went through San Marcos.
Now it turns out that they simply refused to respond. How are they not held responsible for lying to FBI?
SunSeeker
(56,867 posts)
ZonkerHarris
(25,577 posts)them not to lie to us" defense in EVERY case and trial.
uponit7771
(93,252 posts)mn9driver
(4,786 posts)As the linked article describes, it was written for this exact scenario: law enforcement refusing to help the victims of threatening or violent political intimidation.
It couldnt be any more clear cut.
Horse with no Name
(34,198 posts)This is criminal
Aristus
(71,034 posts)
UCmeNdc
(9,654 posts)Sabuca
(48 posts)Can police simply say, "We're not gonna show up because we're afraid".
Lasher
(29,203 posts)Has anything changed?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/fbi-white-supremacists-in-law-enforcement
Alexander Of Assyria
(7,839 posts)ancianita
(42,131 posts)They don't just "fail," they refuse to do their sworn duty.
multigraincracker
(36,413 posts)TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Might this apply?
summer_in_TX
(3,856 posts)San Marcos is my county seat.
Ugh!
They did get a new police chief in November 2020 I believe. So I am pretty sure it wouldve been after that incident.
LakeArenal
(29,949 posts)Didnt taxpayers just bail Texas debt out?
Really petty and stooopid.
Delphinus
(12,447 posts)there are no words.
ZonkerHarris
(25,577 posts)Pepsidog
(6,346 posts)Blue Owl
(57,521 posts)
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)
dalton99a
(90,565 posts)