{"id":1321348,"date":"2022-02-21T08:08:41","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T13:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1321348"},"modified":"2022-02-21T08:08:49","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T13:08:49","slug":"exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fexclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1321348&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Flag_Truck_at_Sonoma_2017.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Following weeks of speculation of a potential U.S. trucker convoy, grassroots activists known as the \u201cAmerican Freedom Convoy\u201d are set to launch such a feat next month to protest tyrannical COVID mandates. <\/p>\n<p>Comprised of everyday Americans from across the country, the nationwide protest is set to kick off on the west coast on March 1 and aims to arrive in Washington, D.C. by March 7. According to co-organizer and head of the movement\u2019s Indiana-Ohio region Nicole Robinson, the convoy will accumulate truckers and supporters living in Midwestern, Southern, and Eastern states as it makes its way towards the U.S. capital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have groups that are coming from the west coast. I believe we have Washington, Oregon and then Colorado,\u201d she told The Federalist. \u201cWe got people joining in from small towns and stuff. By the time they reach Indiana, it\u2019ll be March 5; they\u2019ll stay overnight here in Indiana and our last leg of the trip will be made on the sixth and we will stop just outside of DC, and we will land in DC on the morning of the seventh.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The group is separate from the \u201cPeople\u2019s Convoy,\u201d which has received national media <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/peoples-convoy-truckers-reportedly-heading-dc-mandate-protest-1679678\">attention<\/a> and changed its launch date multiple times.<\/p>\n<p>A single mom and travel-certified nursing assistant, Robinson says that after watching the Canadian convoy and witnessing \u201ceverything that [her] kids went through with the mandates with school and the school closing down,\u201d she \u201cfelt a pull\u201d to take action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI decided to do a state Facebook page and I invited a few close friends and family and said, \u2018if you know anybody who would be interested, send them the link. It\u2019s a private page, you have to be invited or answer questions to join,&#8217;\u201d she said. \u201cIt blew up. By the end of the day, I had like 400 people and I\u2019m like, \u2018Whoa, what is going on here?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The growth and success of Robinson\u2019s page eventually led to Facebook convoy group administrators from other states reaching out to her, which paved the way for forming a team to establish travel routes for a formal nationwide protest. <\/p>\n<p>Chris Merill, a big-rig owner-operator and the coordinator for Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Wyoming, and Iowa, notes that while organizing and participating in such a movement could certainly bear significant personal and financial costs, he believes his children\u2019s future is worth fighting for.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll that\u2019s been shoved in our faces the last two years is fear,\u201d said Merill. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t want them to be growing up in a world like that where they\u2019ve got to be afraid to do anything and to be afraid of other people. Anybody is scared to do anything anymore and I don\u2019t like that. That is not the United States that I was proud of. The United States now, it worries me, it scares me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople should not be afraid to stand up for their beliefs, and right now they are. We want everybody to unite and be able to stand up together,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Derek DePauw, a trucker and coordinator for the Northwestern region of the country, echoed similar sentiments, while also adding that he\u2019s fighting for the \u201cmillions out there that aren\u2019t willing, or able, to put themselves in the uncomfortable situations that freedom requires.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are just looking for someone to take that first step up to give them the courage to stand up themselves. At the end of the day, I want to see all of America come together,\u201d said DePauw. \u201cAs unrealistic as it sounds, and it likely is, I hope that those that don\u2019t see the reality of it, finally see that it is their freedom as well, that we are doing all this for. We need to make sure that no government, at any point, in futures to come, can <em>ever <\/em>do this sort of thing ever again. The American people need to have their rights restored, protected, and preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While organizing the protest, both Robinson and Merill have noted instances of interference from Facebook, with Merill claiming that he\u2019s been shadowbanned on the platform \u201cat least a dozen times in the last week.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was a period of about 72 hours where I couldn\u2019t post anything. I couldn\u2019t edit any of my posts that were already up, and I was never given a reason for it,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a period of time where I had to use other means to communicate with people that I\u2019ve been helping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the first time Facebook has attempted to suppress attempts to orchestrate a U.S. trucker convoy, however. Earlier this month, the Big Tech platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/facebook-dc-trucker-page-freedom-convoy-censorship\">removed<\/a> the \u201cConvoy to D.C. 2022\u201d group for purportedly \u201cviolating [their] policies around QAnon.\u201d The group had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/facebook-removes-convoy-to-dc-2022-group\">reportedly<\/a> garnered over 130,000 members prior to its removal.<\/p>\n<p>The launch of the American Freedom Convoy comes on the heels of the Canadian government utilizing police <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/europe\/2022\/02\/19\/watch-canada-protestors-trampled-by-police-horses-100-arrested\/\">violence<\/a> against Canadian truckers and protestors in the country\u2019s capital of Ottawa. Following the declaration of Canada\u2019s Emergencies Act, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ramped up his war on basic freedoms by deploying armed police in riot gear to squash the peaceful demonstrations, while also threatening to freeze the bank accounts of those involved. As of Sunday, nearly 200 individuals have been arrested, including four leaders of the protest.<\/p>\n<p>While Robinson and Merill expressed concerns that such brutal tactics could be employed by the Biden administration against their members, they, along with DePauw, strongly emphasized that they are a peaceful movement with no violent intentions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 100 percent peaceful protest will be just that: 100 percent peaceful,\u201d said DePauw. \u201cPlease keep your eyes open, as there will be, beyond all reasonable doubts, bad actors that will get put into the spotlight by the media. We all know this, and 100 percent expect it. There will be false flag events going on. There is no question. But I can assure everyone, it will not be from us. We have absolute zero intention of causing any form of violence to arise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not out for any type of vengeance, violence, any of that stuff. The one thing that we have preached is the one thing that everybody has preached, and that\u2019s follow all the laws,\u201d said Robinson, who added that the group has no intentions of blocking interstates and has reached out to several state police departments to notify them of the convoy\u2019s dates and travel routes.<\/p>\n<p>Information about the convoy can be found on their <a href=\"https:\/\/americantruckersfreedomfund.com\/\">website<\/a>. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Shawn Fleetwood is an intern at The Federalist and a student at the University of Mary Washington, where he plans to major in Political Science and minor in Journalism. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following weeks of speculation of a potential U.S. trucker convoy, grassroots activists known as the \u201cAmerican Freedom Convoy\u201d are set to launch such a feat next month to protest tyrannical &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1321348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1321348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1321348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1321348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1321348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1321348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}