FBI says it's reviewing Biden bus swarmed by 'Trump train' caravan, contrary to Trump tweet
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The FBI has acknowledged that federal authorities are reviewing a Texas highway incident Friday in which a vehicle caravan waving Trump flags swarmed a Biden campaign bus, even as President Donald Trump began his last day of campaigning Monday claiming the inquiry did not exist.
The FBI on Monday declined to elaborate on the investigation, which was prompted when the Austin-bound Biden campaign reported that the Trump vehicles surrounded the bus and that concerns were raised it could run it off the road.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, were not on board at the time. No one was injured, and the bus eventually reached its destination with the assistance of law enforcement.
It was one of several incidents involving "Trump Train" caravans across the country in the last weekend before Election Day
Trump's comment disputing the FBI's inquiry comes as he has harshly criticized the bureau in recent months. Aides have said the president is considering removing FBI Director Christopher Wray after the election.
Last week, the FBI Agents Association offered its strong support for the director and urged both Trump and Biden to allow Wray to serve out his full 10-year term.
More: President Trump weighing firing of FBI Director Christopher Wray after election
NEW: Very short statement from the FBI confirming that they are investigating incident Friday involving Biden bus. pic.twitter.com/hM5hlL4ERI
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) November 1, 2020
Trump, echoing a tweet he sent Sunday about the incident, said his supporters "did nothing wrong."
"But the ANTIFA Anarchists, Rioters and Looters, who have caused so much harm and destruction in Democrat run cities, are being seriously looked at!" Trump wrote.
Trump referred to his repeated and unsupported claims that social justice protests against police-related violence have been driven by an anti-facist movement known as Antifa.
Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee in September that the majority of summer demonstrations had been peaceful, though he acknowledged that the FBI had opened a number of investigations into suspects who have been drawn to violent extremist agendas, including Antifa.
"Antifa is a real thing," Wray said, adding that the bureau regards it more as a "movement" or ideology rather than an actual terror group or organization.
More: Antifa not a terror group, FBI director testifies
"Trump needs to quit interfering in criminal investigations," tweeted Joyce White Vance, law professor at the University of Alabama and a former U.S. attorney. "DOJ (Department of Justice) & FBI aren’t his political tools."
While the FBI declined to elaborate, the Voter Protection Program, a legal collaborative that has published guidance on driver-related political demonstrations, notes that voter intimidation is a crime under federal law and under every state’s laws, which applies equally to intimidation conducted from vehicles.
The Voter Protection Program document states that examples of voter intimidation may include:
Tailgating other vehicles
Brandishing or intimidating display of firearms
Swerving aggressively towards pedestrians or other vehicles
Disrupting voting lines or blocking entrances
Aggressively revving engines as voters pass
Aggressively approaching voters’ cars or writing down license plate numbers
Verbal threats of violence
Blocking roads to the polls
Following voters to, from, or within polling places
Confronting voters while wearing military-style or official-looking uniforms
Incidents across the country before Election Day
In Louisville, Kentucky, about 100 “Trump Train” drivers clashed with several protesters at a high school on Sunday before caravanning to the Kentucky Exposition Center for a rally.
The protesters, who were upset the group was allowed to use school property, tried to block vehicles from leaving the parking lot with their cars.
Middletown Police officers were at the scene and arrested one protester, department Chief Robert Herman confirmed.
People on both sides had guns, which is illegal on school property in Kentucky, but the police said they opted not to make any charges based on that in order to de-escalate the situation.
Trump supporters eventually drove over a curb and across the school's lawn to get to the road before driving to the fairgrounds, where about 1,000 people gathered for a rally after caravanning from cities around the state.
Around Indianapolis, Trump supporters circled I-465 counterclockwise.
"I feel like anything that impacts traffic puts people at risk, anything at all," said Indiana State Police Sgt. Dennis Scudder. "I mean, it doesn't take much."
Around Lakewood, New Jersey, Trump supporters apparently shut down parts of the Garden State Parkway for a brief time, rallied at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, and gathered by the thousands at Veteran Parks in Berkeley as part of a statewide show of their enthusiasm for his reelection bid.
In Richmond, Virginia, police responded to several incidents involving a Trump caravan, including a woman who said she was pepper-sprayed by someone in a vehicle near Lee Monument circle, and an unoccupied vehicle that was hit by gunfire.
In California, multiple caravans were reported, including one that paraded for 60 miles through Riverside County on Sunday, the Los Angeles Time reports. The Sheriff’s Department said officers made no arrests but did field a few complaints from intimidated voters.
IN ARIZONA: Are slow-moving Trump caravans legal? It's complicated
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FBI reviewing Biden bus, Trump train incident, contrary to Trump tweet
