The US Version of the Canadian Trucker Convoy Had a Tough First Day
Paul McLeod
Wed, February 23, 2022
WASHINGTON — America’s attempt to replicate the Canadian trucker protest movement got off to a slow start Wednesday as a modest number of trucks hit the road on their way to Washington, DC.
Loosely connected organizers are trying to replicate the success of the anti–vaccine mandate Freedom Convoy, which traveled from Western Canada to the capital city of Ottawa. Hundreds of vehicles and thousands of protesters effectively took over downtown Ottawa for three weeks before police cleared them out.
A lightly rebranded People’s Convoy took off from Southern California Wednesday in the same spirit. Around a dozen big rig trucks and a couple of hundred people gathered at a parking lot in the city of Adelanto for the kickoff, according to Ben Collins of NBC News. Their plan is to spend 11 days moving through Texas, then north to Indiana, then east arriving at Washington next Saturday. It’s not clear how many truckers are along for the full ride.
Meanwhile, another convoy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, was a bust, as only one truck, driven by organizer Bob Bolus, and a handful of personal vehicles showed up. They set out for Washington regardless.
The People’s Convoy will not make it to Washington in time for President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, but the Scranton group will. Bolus said his convoy would significantly disrupt traffic into the district, though he made those comments when he expected many more trucks to take part.
The Canadian truckers became an international cause celebre due to their shocking success in capturing the attention of a G7 nation. The protesters also blockaded border crossings, causing major trade disruptions.
Their American counterparts are starting small and may have a harder time replicating that energy. For one, their side has already largely won. Lockdowns and vaccine mandates have vanished in most jurisdictions as local and state governments bowed to pressure to reopen. The People’s Convoy website claims $465,000 has been raised in donations. The Canadian convoy earned millions from American donations alone, though most of that money has been returned or frozen by Canadian authorities.
The People’s Convoy will also not be able to waltz into downtown Washington and park around the Capitol building, robbing them of the dramatic images of Ottawa protesters partying in front of Parliament. In fact, organizers say that’s not even their goal. After discussing with local officials, the final destination is listed only as “DC Beltway area.”
“The People’s Convoy will abide by agreements with local authorities, and terminate in the vicinity of the DC area, but will NOT be going into DC proper,” says a convoy press release.
The Pentagon approved 700 unarmed National Guard troops to be deployed to the District of Columbia for traffic control starting next week. DC Police and US Capitol police had asked the Pentagon for reinforcements to deal with trucker convoys.
The Metropolitan Police Department of DC did not respond to questions of whether they reached out to Ottawa officials about their experience with the convoy.
The immediate plan for the People’s Convoy is to stop in Kingman, Arizona, for the night, then wake up and head east, hoping to attract more vehicles along the way. Their demands are to end the national state of emergency that was first declared in response to the COVID pandemic in March 2020 as well as to “restore our nation’s Constitution.”
More on this
The Ottawa Truckers Have Shown How To Occupy A City. Now Their Movement Is Expanding Worldwide.
D.C. Truck Convoy Organizer’s Plan Sputters Like a Busted EnginePaul McLeod
Wed, February 23, 2022
WASHINGTON — America’s attempt to replicate the Canadian trucker protest movement got off to a slow start Wednesday as a modest number of trucks hit the road on their way to Washington, DC.
Loosely connected organizers are trying to replicate the success of the anti–vaccine mandate Freedom Convoy, which traveled from Western Canada to the capital city of Ottawa. Hundreds of vehicles and thousands of protesters effectively took over downtown Ottawa for three weeks before police cleared them out.
A lightly rebranded People’s Convoy took off from Southern California Wednesday in the same spirit. Around a dozen big rig trucks and a couple of hundred people gathered at a parking lot in the city of Adelanto for the kickoff, according to Ben Collins of NBC News. Their plan is to spend 11 days moving through Texas, then north to Indiana, then east arriving at Washington next Saturday. It’s not clear how many truckers are along for the full ride.
Meanwhile, another convoy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, was a bust, as only one truck, driven by organizer Bob Bolus, and a handful of personal vehicles showed up. They set out for Washington regardless.
The People’s Convoy will not make it to Washington in time for President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday, but the Scranton group will. Bolus said his convoy would significantly disrupt traffic into the district, though he made those comments when he expected many more trucks to take part.
The Canadian truckers became an international cause celebre due to their shocking success in capturing the attention of a G7 nation. The protesters also blockaded border crossings, causing major trade disruptions.
Their American counterparts are starting small and may have a harder time replicating that energy. For one, their side has already largely won. Lockdowns and vaccine mandates have vanished in most jurisdictions as local and state governments bowed to pressure to reopen. The People’s Convoy website claims $465,000 has been raised in donations. The Canadian convoy earned millions from American donations alone, though most of that money has been returned or frozen by Canadian authorities.
The People’s Convoy will also not be able to waltz into downtown Washington and park around the Capitol building, robbing them of the dramatic images of Ottawa protesters partying in front of Parliament. In fact, organizers say that’s not even their goal. After discussing with local officials, the final destination is listed only as “DC Beltway area.”
“The People’s Convoy will abide by agreements with local authorities, and terminate in the vicinity of the DC area, but will NOT be going into DC proper,” says a convoy press release.
The Pentagon approved 700 unarmed National Guard troops to be deployed to the District of Columbia for traffic control starting next week. DC Police and US Capitol police had asked the Pentagon for reinforcements to deal with trucker convoys.
The Metropolitan Police Department of DC did not respond to questions of whether they reached out to Ottawa officials about their experience with the convoy.
The immediate plan for the People’s Convoy is to stop in Kingman, Arizona, for the night, then wake up and head east, hoping to attract more vehicles along the way. Their demands are to end the national state of emergency that was first declared in response to the COVID pandemic in March 2020 as well as to “restore our nation’s Constitution.”
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At first, ardently MAGA trucker Bob Bolus vowed that his makeshift “freedom convoy” making a beeline from Scranton, Pennsylvania to D.C. this week would “choke” the nation’s capital like a boa constrictor in protest of vaccine mandates.
But on Wednesday, when his overhyped convoy turned out to be a piddly procession of one, Bolus backtracked, telling The Daily Beast that his plans have changed and he will not attempt to interfere with traffic.
“We’re not putting a chokehold on D.C. today,” the Pennsylvania-based trucker told The Daily Beast by phone shortly after noon, before quickly getting his hopes up again about one day disrupting Beltway traffic: “Not to say that it wouldn’t happen in the very near future. It’s just going to be an idea of what’s to come.”
This particular wing of the convoy movement was originally slated to arrive in the D.C. metro area around noon, with the hopes of causing a gridlock blockade like the Canadian anti-vaccine mandate trucker demonstration that caused chaos in Ottawa until it was dispersed by police. Earlier this week, the Pentagon approved the use of nearly 700 National Guard personnel to assist local authorities with the possibility of multiple convoys blocking up the D.C. area.
But now, as Bolus confessed to The Daily Beast, his tiny convoy will just “peacefully” sit in Beltway traffic and not attempt to cause any such backup.
“We’re going to go with the flow. Today we’re going to go with the flow of traffic,” a defeated Bolus told the Beast. “If they go at two miles an hour, we will be at two miles an hour.”
As of midday Wednesday, there were merely eight vehicles in his group, as reported by Reuters producer Julio-César Chávez, who has been traveling with the Bolus convoy.
The singular 18-wheeler driven by Bolus has several SUV and pickup-driving supporters in tow, but otherwise, according to Chávez, all other big-rigs on the road have driven past the convoy. The group‘s voyage began with a delay after Bolus got two flat tires, ABC 7 News reported.
Earlier this week, Bolus garnered heavy press attention for his convoy after telling Fox 5 D.C. that he intends to “shut down” the Capital Beltway, likening his alleged group of truckers to a deadly boa, which “squeezes you, chokes you, and it swallows you—and that’s what we’re going to do to D.C.”
The trucker has built a small following on Facebook for his pro-Trump antics, but some of his followers seemed skeptical of the convoy idea from the start. “I’m in agreement with this cause, but I have to warn you that the quickest way to lose that support in the DC region is to disrupt business and people’s commute worse than it already is,” one such supporter wrote.
One day before departing for D.C., Bolus broadened the convoy movement’s anti-vaccine mandate protest to include grievances like the death of Jan. 6 Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, the teaching of “critical race theory” in schools, and rising fuel costs.
Asked whether his tiny caravan of a single tractor-trailer and several gas-guzzling SUVs is needlessly burning through that increasingly expensive fuel, Bolus said no.
“We don’t consider it a waste of gas or anything else,” he asserted. “We as Americans feel we are standing up for our rights.”
Inspired by Canada convoy, U.S. truckers plan trek to D.C. to oppose COVID-19 rules
Truck drivers are seen parked on Constitution Avenue near the White House in Washington as they stage a protest amid the COVID-19 pandemic on May 1, 2020. On Wednesday, a convoy of truckers will begin a trek from California to the capital to oppose federal COVID-19-related mandates.
File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo
Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Modeled after the "Freedom Convoy" that disrupted a border crossing in Canada for several days this month, a group of American truckers is set to travel across the United States in an 11-day journey to protest COVID-19 restrictions, beginning Wednesday on the West Coast.
Organizers for the group, known as the People's Convoy, are planning to have 1,000 semi-truck drivers gathered in Adelanto, Calif., for the start of the trek that will take them to Washington. Adelanto is about 65 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The group argues that the "government has forgotten its place" and is overextending its reach with federal COVID-19 restrictions, and says they should be removed.
"The message of The People's Convoy is simple," the group said in a statement. "The last 23 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a rough road for all Americans to travel: spiritually, emotionally, physically and -- not least -- financially.
"It's time for elected officials to work with the blue-collar and white-collar workers of America and restore accountability and liberty -- by lifting all mandates and ending the state of emergency -- as COVID is well in hand now and Americans need to get back to work in a free and unrestricted manner."
During a rally Tuesday at Adelanto Stadium, organizers said the truckers will receive encouragement and blessings from speakers as they depart on their journey. After departing Wednesday, the group planned to make stops in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas before arriving in Oklahoma on Saturday.
Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Modeled after the "Freedom Convoy" that disrupted a border crossing in Canada for several days this month, a group of American truckers is set to travel across the United States in an 11-day journey to protest COVID-19 restrictions, beginning Wednesday on the West Coast.
Organizers for the group, known as the People's Convoy, are planning to have 1,000 semi-truck drivers gathered in Adelanto, Calif., for the start of the trek that will take them to Washington. Adelanto is about 65 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The group argues that the "government has forgotten its place" and is overextending its reach with federal COVID-19 restrictions, and says they should be removed.
"The message of The People's Convoy is simple," the group said in a statement. "The last 23 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a rough road for all Americans to travel: spiritually, emotionally, physically and -- not least -- financially.
"It's time for elected officials to work with the blue-collar and white-collar workers of America and restore accountability and liberty -- by lifting all mandates and ending the state of emergency -- as COVID is well in hand now and Americans need to get back to work in a free and unrestricted manner."
During a rally Tuesday at Adelanto Stadium, organizers said the truckers will receive encouragement and blessings from speakers as they depart on their journey. After departing Wednesday, the group planned to make stops in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas before arriving in Oklahoma on Saturday.
Hundreds of unarmed National Guard troops have been approved to help Washington, D.C., police handle convoys that arrive in the area.
File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
As the nationwide trek continues, they will move through Missouri, Indiana and Ohio before heading south to Maryland and ultimately arriving in the Washington, D.C., area on March 5.
As the nationwide trek continues, they will move through Missouri, Indiana and Ohio before heading south to Maryland and ultimately arriving in the Washington, D.C., area on March 5.
Unlike the Canadian Freedom Convoy -- which blocked various roads, including the Ambassador Bridge linking Ontario and Detroit, and ultimately led to the arrests of almost 200 people -- the People's Convoy says it does not plan to obstruct roadways or bridges.
"This convoy is about freedom and unity," the group said in a statement. "The truckers are riding unified across party and state lines and with people of all colors and creeds -- Christians, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Mormons, agnostics, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Republican, Democrats. All individuals are welcome to participate."
There are also other potential convoys that are mulling similar trips cross-country -- including "Truckers for America" and the "American Truckers Freedom Convoy" later in March.
Earlier this month, authorities said they were monitoring possible convoy plans to drive across the country and arrive in D.C. in time for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday. Officials at the time said they were also looking for a convoy-style protest at Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles on Feb. 13.
The Defense Department said on Tuesday said that it received a request from U.S. Capitol Police for troop deployment in Washington ahead of the convoy's planned arrival. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved about 700 National Guard members to aid police ahead of the convoy's arrival. Officials said the National Guard support troops will not be armed.
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