FBI investigating Biden bus surrounded by pro-Trump cars: report

The FBI is investigating an incident involving vehicles featuring Trump 2020 flags for allegedly harassing a bus for Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s campaign on a Texas highway, CNN reported Sunday.

A law enforcement source close to the probe told CNN that the FBI was launching an investigation into the episode that occurred on Friday as the Biden bus traveled from San Antonio to Austin on Interstate 35. Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), were not on the bus. 

The FBI did not immediately provide comment.

A Biden campaign official told CNN that the trucks displaying the pro-Trump flags tried to slow down the bus and run it off the road while it traveled as part of a voter turnout initiative on the last day of early voting in the state.

Those in the pro-Trump vehicles yelled profanities and obscenities and then prevented the Biden bus and cars from moving, another source familiar with the incident told CNN. 

The campaign official told the network that they slowed the bus to about 20 mph and attempted to stop it in the middle of the highway. A video posted to Twitter showed a white truck hitting a car as it followed the Biden bus.

Staffers on the bus called 911 and received a law enforcement escort to Austin.

The Biden campaign ended up canceling an event because of the incident. 

“Rather than engage in productive conversation about the drastically different visions that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have for our country, Trump supporters in Texas today instead decided to put our staff, surrogates, supporters, and others in harm’s way,” Tariq Thowfeek, the Biden campaign’s communications director in Texas, previously told The Hill.

President Trump tweeted a video of the episode with the caption “I LOVE TEXAS” on Saturday. He claimed at a Sunday campaign rally that his supporters in the vehicles were “protecting” the campaign bus. 

Texas has become a potentially competitive state in the 2020 election, which is two days away. The Cook Political Report changed the Texas presidential race form “lean Republican” to “toss-up” last week. 

The RealClearPolitics average shows Trump at a 2.3 point advantage. He won the state by 9 points in 2016.