Wrecks, No-Shows: As America Watches Ukraine, DC Truck Convoy Is Fizzling
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had the instant effect of uniting the United States in their attention to that crisis, pulling focus away from other events, including the convoy of truckers who were planning to drive to the nation’s Capital to protest vaccine mandates and the pandemic state of emergency.
Scranton trucking businessman Bob Bolus organized a local group to join the national Truck Convoy heading to Washington, D.C. to clog the roadways of I-495 in protest of Covid-19 restrictions and those in jail for the January 6 insurrection. (Photo by Aimee Dilger/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
While the relevance of the COVID-denial protest vastly diminished in comparison to Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear force, it hasn’t stopped the right-wing collective of loosely-connected groups from mobilizing. However, the event seems to have also started to fizzle.
Last week, the New York Times reported that one of the convoys gathering in different locations had officially disbanded, telling the few vehicles that showed up to join the other two groups instead.
That’s not the only setback the protests have had so far. According to an Oklahoma ABC affiliate, one of the convoy groups moving through Tulsa on Sunday was involved in a multi-vehicle wreck, with two semi trucks and two pickup trucks involved. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said that there were injuries in the accident, but would not release any specifics, and said they’re investigating the cause of the crash.
According to WUSA9, the protest group applied for a permit to use the National Sylvan Theater on the National Mall, saying they hoped to amass 1,000 attendees, but told news reporters that they’d had as many as 38,000 RSVPs. They say the plan is to play Christian music and have presentations from anti-mandate speakers, but it’s not really clear at this point how many people can actually be expected to show up.
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