Trucker Convoy To Descend On D.C.

The American off-shoot of the trucker convoy that disrupted Ottawa, Canada allegedly plans to converge on Washington D.C. on Saturday, to protest pandemic related government mandates and other far-right issues.

Groups from across the country plan to descend on D.C. These groups include The People’s Convoy which is set to arrive on Saturday March 5, and The American Freedom Convoy which is set to arrive on Monday, according to PennLive.

According to the Washington Post at least one member of the convoy said in a YouTube livestream that members of the convoy will be heading to the White House. He did not elaborate on these plans.

Others have reportedly talked about “blocking the beltway” in their livestreams.

It is said that the convoy is currently assembling near Hagerstown, Maryland with an estimated one thousand vehicles. The convoy was largely organized through pro-Trump and anti-vaccine channels on the Telegram app.

Video surfaced on Twitter of a journalist being harassed by members of the convoy.

Federal authorities are aware of the situation and the Department of Homeland Security has apparently been planning for this for weeks. The National Guard has been called in through at least Monday to help direct traffic in the city, according to WUSA9.

As reported by Newsweek, one member of the convoy told a Fox affiliate that they plan to shut down the Beltway like a “giant boa constrictor”.

Members of the convoy claim that they are protesting everything from vaccine mandates to critical race theory to religious freedom to supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Some claim that they are seeking “justice” for Ashli Babbitt, one of the terrorists who was shot during the capitol riot on January 6, 2021.

Covid mandates have largely been repealed as the Omicron variant has dwindled, but the convoy’s attention has been shifting to the war in Ukraine. The QAnon conspiracy theory has infected the convoy and many believe that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a cover up for a military operation against “The Deep State” that former President Donald Trump is leading.

This variant of the QAnon conspiracy theory suggests that Trump is working for Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop Dr. Anthony Fauci from manufacturing biological weapons in Ukraine.

“…I don’t think they know what they want. They are just mad, and they want a reason to express that,” said Sara Aniano to NBC News. Aniano is an extremism researcher who has been monitoring the convoy on Telegram and recently completed a study on QAnon’s growth for the International Centere for the Study of Radicalization, a non-profit group based in London.