Convoy to D.C. 2022, which reportedly had over 130,000 members and was being used to plan a protest of vaccine mandates in parts of the United States, was inspired by a protest by Canadian truckers over COVID-19 rules.
“I feel like the presence of that amount of people that show they’re unhappy with what’s going on is a good way to get their attention,” Mike Landis, a trucker involved with the convoy, told Fox News. “I feel like this whole Facebook censorship thing we have going on right here is obviously starting to get someone’s attention.”
Jeremy Johnson, who set up the group, said he has reached out to a lawyer from FreedomFighterNation.org to evaluate different options he and his partners have in dealing with Facebook. “They like to silence people that speak the truth,” he told Fox News.
Facebook said it removed the group due to alleged violations of its QAnon policies, according to Fox News.
QAnon is a right-wing online movement that originated on 4chan message boards in October 2017 with posts by an anonymous person going by “Q” who claimed to be a government official with top-secret intelligence clearance and who made a variety of generally evidence-free “bread crumb” claims about former President Donald Trump covertly battling a series of “deep state” plots and global conspiracies, including an alleged ring of sex traffickers that includes Democratic politicians, business leaders, and Hollywood elites.
Brian Base, co-organizer of the convoy, disputed the allegation, arguing that it is “simply not true.”
The convoy is slated to depart from California on March 1, but Johnson noted that date might get moved up. The goal is to call peacefully for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the U.S.
“This is going to get very big, in my opinion, and I think the government needs to take a look at what the American people want,” Johnson said. “And they don’t want mandates. They want to see their families. We’re just trying to be the voice of the voiceless.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Facebook for comment but did not receive a response.
The U.S. truckers were inspired by the “Freedom Convoy” of Canadian truckers who drove to Ottawa, the capital of Canada, to protest rules requiring truckers to be fully vaccinated or comply with testing and quarantine requirements.
The U.S. does not have a national vaccine mandate for native truckers who travel domestically, but parts of the U.S. have health restrictions. Although a national vaccine-or-test mandate for employers was struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this month, a similar vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was upheld. Additionally, cities such as Washington and New York City have implemented similar vaccine mandates for workers or patrons.
This article was originally published by Washington Examiner. Read the original article.
ThinkCivics researches, examines, and reports on issues that matter most. We deliver explanative, fearless, and insightful analysis for public consumption.
