An American truckers convoy, reprising the hugely successful campaign in Canada in which drivers crossed most of the nation, ended up in Ottawa and convinced multiple provinces to drop COVID demands, has launched in California.
It’s destination? Washington, D.C., where politicians already are fearing the sight of hundreds of drivers at the Capitol, and so have ordered a barrier fence installed.
Yahoo News said a rally at Adelanto Stadium that launched the People’s Convoy ended mid-day, and the truckers were on their way to Barstow and the Arizona border.
There were an estimated 1,000 truckers involved already.
They are calling on lawmakers to end the “national emergency” regarding COVID, a declaration that Joe Biden very quietly renewed just days ago. The drivers charge the government is depriving citizens of their fundamental rights by demanding vaccinations and masks.
The report said the U.S. campaign will mirror the Canadian program in which truck drivers for nearly a week protested COVID restrictions while closing a busy border crossing to the U.S.
There it was the “Freedom Convoy” to oppose requirements for vaccinations and tests.
The Daily Mail estimated the convoy would take about 11 days to reach Washington, which would put the truckers there about the time of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
The convoy organizers say the threat from COVID has receded and, contrary to what Biden claims, there isn’t a significant risk to the public any longer.
The U.S. campaign organizers say the truckers do not plan to disrupt traffic, as the Canadian events did, but one convoy chief, Bob Bolus, has expressed the plan to shut down the Beltway in Washington. He did say any “traffic problem” from the convoy would be no more than residents there see every day.
Washington officials already have reacted, putting 500 police officers on standby, with another 700 members of the National Guard ready.
Trucker Mike Landis said, “[The] fact is we have a government that tries to push us around. At this moment, we are living without our Constitution. Our Constitution means nothing right now.”
In a statement, organizers said, “This convoy is about freedom and unity: 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.”
The route apparently is taking the truckers through Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, avoiding the mountain states like Colorado where intense cold and snow this week already was making travel a project for only the most brave.
Indiana, Ohio and Maryland also apparently are on the route.
“GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, of South Carolina, told DailyMail.com that he supports the People’s Convoy in their protest of COVID mandates: “Americans have every right to be angry at this government, and I believe these individuals speak for more than just themselves. I support their right to lawfully protest, without disrupting commerce, essential services, or the lives of others,'” the publication reported.
“President Biden refuses to listen to the millions of Americans who are fed up with rising inflation and tyrannical COVID mandates. I look forward to welcoming the thousands of patriots to DC next week as they peacefully remind Washington what a complete failure this Administration has been,” said Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas.
Other trucker convoys were organizing from other parts of the country.
In Washington, government staff members were told to be aware of the “potential impacts” of convoys. “High than normal” traffic levels were forecast.
Canadian physician Dr. Paul Alexander speaks to U.S. truckers in Barstow, California, Feb. 22, 2022. (Video screenshot)
Dr. Paul Alexander, a Canadian health researcher and former adviser to the Trump administration, has been an inspiration to the truckers pressing Justin Trudeau’s administration to eliminate its vaccine mandates.
Now, he’s in California’s Mojave Desert, where he gave an opening speech at the invitation of truckers who were setting out for Washington, D.C., in the USA People’s Convoy.
Alexander argued the COVID vaccines simply don’t stop infection and transmission, and governments have no right to impose mandates.
“A trucker has to be able to earn a living,” he said. “This is about freedom, freedom of choice.”
The COVID pandemic, he said, is over, but many governments don’t want to let go of the extraordinary powers they have accumulated through emergency declarations.
Alexander told the truckers he hopes the convoy remains peaceful and that Americans “will understand what this battle is about.”
“If we don’t win this battle, the government will maximally abuse the power it has,” he said. “Maximally.”
See Dr. Paul Alexander with the truckers:
Alexander has helped compile a number of lists of scientific studies related to the response to the pandemic, including one with 400 studies demonstrating the failure of COVID measures,