Inspired by the disorganized "Freedom Convoy" that left Ottowa in chaos for weeks, a copycat convoy — the People's Convoy — is now honking its way from California to Washington DC. But, while the Freedom Convoy was made up of truckers opposing vaccine mandates for US–Canada border crossings, the ragtag spinoff doesn't seem to know what it is, or what it's about.
Made up of a hodgepodge of trucks, SUVs, and even smaller cars decked with American and Canadian flags (as seen in video below), the pumped-up drivers are protesting any old topic that comes to mind, such as 2020 election results, Covid vaccines, and school curriculums, according to The Washington Post. What these truth and logic objectors will do once they get to DC is unclear — both to us and most likely to them as well.
Local and federal officials are gearing up for whatever these protests may bring.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Biden's vaccination requirement for large employers and many states have rolled back pandemic-related restrictions, the anti-mandate rally cry is gathering online support.
The self-proclaimed "People's Convoy," leaving from a parking lot outside Adelanto Stadium in California on Wednesday, plans to arrive in the D.C. Beltway area March 5. The group said in a news release that it will "terminate in the vicinity of the DC area, but will NOT be going into DC proper."
It's unclear what the convoy will do if and when it arrives or how long it stay. …
Extremism researchers say that even after pandemic restrictions are loosened and the country emerges from the public health crisis, many people mobilized by the anti-mandate movement will pivot to another cause.