Bill Berkowitz for BuzzFlash: America’s Grievance Truckers Say Keep On Truckin’ Despite Russia’s Ukraine Invasion
“Freedom Truckers”want to disrupt Joe Biden’t State of the Union address. (stingrayschuller)
March 1, 2022
By Bill Berkowitz
Despite the bloody Russian invasion of Ukraine, organizers of the American Trucker Convoy are moving ahead with their plans to clog traffic in Washington, D.C. to protest pandemic restrictions. According to D.C. officials, truckers and their supporters are expected to arrive in the city around the time of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress on March 1. As with the Canadian Convoy, this one also has right-wing ideologues and hustlers written all over it.
D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency Director Chris Rodriguez said “We do anticipate that the first group could arrive here in the District for the State of the Union.” He added: “local law enforcement, as well as federal entities, have been coordinating for that and preparing for it” to ensure that protests take place, with minimal disruption
The Pentagon approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital.
Several trucker groups are organizing convoys. A recent tweet from Truckers for Freedom informed its supporters that the invasion of Ukraine will not interfere with their planned actions:
People saying that Ukraine is a distraction fail to see how this favors the convoy, Biden can’t fight on two fronts, the convoy for freedom now has free ride in USA! So stop bitching around and if you don’t like it then unfollow us, if you fail to see the connection. Also Ukranians show that when shot hits the fan you need to stand strong, something that Canadians didn’t fully do and we shall see in USA, No one is to blame here as was is never the solution.
The Great American Patriot Project, a 527 Political Action Committee (PAC), is sponsoring the American Truckers Freedom Convoy. According to its website, “The American Truckers Freedom Fund is a special initiative of the Great American Patriot Project (GAPP) in support of health freedom convoys around the country in the coming weeks. Project (GAPP) facilitates fundraising through online crowdfunding with the support of our partners and staunch advocates for Freedom, Liberty, & The American Way.”
A recent statement of the American Truckers Freedom Fund site is headlined “No New Wars,” and reads:
The weakness of the current Administration has given space for Russian leaders to invade Ukraine without consequences and will give China the same freedom to overtake Taiwan. In a flash poll conducted on social media 98% of Americans are against any war in Europe and it is time to demand that our leaders bring back the strength of America and stand up for the rights of our citizens. This will be an issue that our truckers will fight for with Congress. Our government needs to fight for our borders and freedoms, stay out of European wars and start making changes that protect America.
The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger recently reported (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-mysterious-right-wing-group-american-foundation-for-civil-liberties-and-freedoms-funding-trucker-convoy) that “the conservative dark-money organization American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedoms (https://afclf.org/the-peoples-convoy/) had raised $464,731 for “the People’s Convoy”—as the protesters have branded themselves.” On its website, AFCLF claimed that as of February 25, donations – which are tax-deductible -- had reached over $855,000.
“Convoy up, America — the donate button is going toward the funding of the ride to Freedom: we are going to take back our country for ourselves and future generations!” the site says.
The money will “reimburse fuel and hard costs of the trucker,” the group notes, adding that “the fund is being handled by volunteer accountants and overseen by a law firm.”
AFCLF chair Chris Marston told Sollenberger by text that “Trucker leaders are on the finance committee to determine where needs are but methods depend on the nature of expense. This all came together too fast to have pre-determined rules so we set up a committee with Lawyer, account, and trucker oversight.” [sic]
“We don’t have agreements with truckers on destination plans,” Marston explained. “We are supporting fuel, food, signage and basics for their journey,” he said, adding that his group had also “coordinated with local authorities along the path to be cooperative.”
Sollenberger pointed out that AFCLF has “also pushed false claims about the 2020 election and raised money for election deniers.”
How many truckers actually wind up in D.C. and its environs remains to be seen. It can, however, be said unequivocally that D.C. officials have been given fair warning about what might ensue. They claim they are prepared. Time will tell.
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