The People's Convoy will then leave Maryland for Washington, D.C., and plans to arrive in the beltway area by the evening of March 5. The group then plans to head east on I-40, driving through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, before reaching Oklahoma on Saturday.ĭeparting Oklahoma after the weekend, the truckers will next move northeast through Missouri, Indiana and then Ohio.Īfter spending the night in Cambridge, Ohio on the evening of March 3, the group will stay in Hagerstown, Maryland, for the final night of the transcontinental convoy. "To our brave and courageous neighbors to the North - our Canadian brothers and sisters who led the charge - we join your call to Freedom with THE PEOPLE'S CONVOY," the Canadian protesters' American counterparts wrote on a website.įollowing a Wednesday morning rally at the Adelanto Stadium, the People's Convoy plans to depart from Southern California to Arizona, where it will stay in Kingman overnight. ![]() This past Sunday, Ottawa police cleared out the remaining demonstrators, arresting 191 people and towing 57 vehicles after more than three weeks of protests. to protest the country's pandemic restrictions, particularly the federal vaccine mandate for cross-border commercial truck drivers. The group, dubbed the People's Convoy, is inspired by the protesters of the so-called Freedom Convoy in Canada, who occupied Ottawa for 24 days and blocked various border crossings into the U.S. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a major industry group, has said it “strongly disapproved” of the gathering in Ottawa.A convoy of American truckers will leave from Adelanto, California, on Wednesday to complete an 11-day journey to the nation's capital, where the group plans to hold a protest demanding that all COVID 19-related mandates are lifted across the country. The protest movement received an endorsement on Thursday from Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who tweeted, “Canadian truckers rule.” Counter-protesters stand across from Parliament Hill Ĭonservative member of parliament Michael Cooper was handing out coffee to the protesters on Saturday. “I support their right to be heard, and I call on Justin Trudeau to meet with these hard-working Canadians to hear their concerns,” O’Toole said after the meeting. Trudeau announced a vaccine mandate for federal workers in October on the eve of the election, and then last month both Canada and the US imposed one for cross-border truckers.Ĭonservative leader Erin O’Toole opposes vaccine mandates and expressed support for the protest after holding talks with some of the truckers on Friday. Earlier this week he said the convoy represented a “small fringe minority” who do not represent the views of Canadians.Ībout 90 percent of Canada’s cross-border truckers and 77 percent of the population have had two COVID vaccination shots. On Friday, Trudeau told the Canadian Press he was worried about possible violence connected with the demonstration. Trudeau and his family have left the home where they live in downtown Ottawa due to security concerns, the CBC news outlet reported. ![]() ![]() “We are prepared as best as we possibly can for those who chose to come here to do harm or cause others to do harm,” Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said on Friday, adding the demonstration would be “massive in scale”. The violent rhetoric used by some of the promoters on social media in the run-up to the protest has worried police, who were out in force. By the end of the day, some 2,700 trucks are expected, a federal government source said. ![]() A truck that is part of a convoy to protest against COVID vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers is seen on Parliament Hill in Ottawa įew wore masks, but many were in balaclavas as the temperature with wind-chill was minus 21 degrees Celsius (minus 6 Fahrenheit). “I want it all to stop, these measures are unjustified,” said one protester, 31-year-old businessman Philippe Castonguay, outside the parliament building. More than two hours before the protest was officially to start on Saturday, the streets of Ottawa’s city centre were packed with trucks as the blaring, non-stop honking of dozens of air horns filled the air, an AFP news agency journalist reported. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” – coming from east and west – started out as a rally against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vaccination streak. Hundreds of truckers have driven their giant rigs into the Canadian capital Ottawa to protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates required to cross the United States border.
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