Trucker Convoy Conspiracists Headed for U.S. Capitol
Spurred on by what they see as the success of a trucker convoy protest in Canada, an assortment of right wing groups and individuals are organizing a “Convoy to DC 2022.”
A supportive page chock full of COVID misinformation on Facebook was shut down after it passed 130,000 followers. Right wing news outlets are actively promoting the concept, as are social media groups like Telegram..
And an assortment of grifters are trying to raise money for an event that doesn’t have an official starting date or an announced route to DC.
One web page –unaffiliated as far as I could tell– was promoting a March 1 start date with groups gathering in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Organizing for the DC Convoy is taking the “repeal the mandates’ path, even though there are no mandates affecting interstate commerce, and federal attempts have been largely rebuffed by the courts on the following dates:
December 7 - Federal contractor mandate
January 13 - Large private companies (Healthcar workers exempted)
January 21 - Rule on Federal employees suspended
The reality here is that the “mandates” are simply the window dressing for the assorted resistance to mask/vaccination groups. Their real work involves serving as vehicles for misinformation about COVID and vaccines, along with energizing lone wolf types who view all governments as evil in some fashion.
Other “spontaneous” events are popping up worldwide.
The Canadian convoy was originally organized as a response to a regulation, implemented this month, requiring truckers returning from the United States to show proof of vaccination. (FYI- 90% of all Canadian truckers are vaccinated)
Leaders of the Canadian group are not truckers, but are openly connected to far right groups.
Via AntiHate.CA:
A crowd-funded convoy, ostensibly fighting against a mandate for truckers to be vaccinated, has raised over $6 million dollars. Its two GoFundMe organizers are previously known figures in Canada’s far-right ecosystem and have publicly made Islamophobic comments. Its loudest promoter, Pat King, is a racist who has tried to incite his audience to violence more times than you can count. (He’s so bad for their public image that the other organizers have even tried to put some distance between them.)
Some convoy supporters, like the Diagolon network, are even saying that they want this to be Canada’s very own January 6th, referring to the attempted insurrection in Washington, DC that led to multiple deaths and widespread arrests. Diagolon is an accelerationist movement, which means they believe a revolution is inevitable and necessary to collapse the current system. It’s also rife with neo-Nazis.
While many of the gatherings in Canada’s capitol have been boisterous but otherwise peaceful, there have been notable exceptions, as monuments have been defaced, people wearing non-western headgear have been harassed, and a soup kitchen had its food stolen. Some participants have called for a Jan. 6-type moment online, according to local media.
Catherine McKenney, the councillor for Ottawa's downtown, said the protests have been very disruptive for local residents, adding many have also found them disturbing.
“They're also seeing the images that we're all seeing, of very right-wing extremist messages: the flags that display the swastika, confederate flags, images of a prime minister being lynched,” McKenney said. “I'm not sure that I would continue to call this peaceful.”
Even if the convoy leaders were successful in getting the government in Ottawa to drop the vaccination requirement, unvaccinated Canadian truckers would still be unable to cross the border because of a similar U.S. requirement.
Trump surrogate former Lt. General Michael Flynn has reportedly raised money for the Canadian effort and Donald Trump Jr., along with Tesla founder Elon Musk have taken to social media to support the effort.
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If the predicted drop in COVID cases occurs in February, then remaining public health measures will likely be relaxed or ended, meaning the antivaxx/antimask/antimandate groups will have to find another cause.
Don’t worry, they will, because all these “grassroots” groups are connected. The book banners, the anti-abortionists, the climate change deniers, the critical race theory haters, and the gun nuts overlap, with people moving from one cause to another unified by versions of Save America rhetoric. Oh, and the think tanks and foundations supporting these efforts are all the same people who backed the Tea Party and Birther movements.
The relationships between various movements on the right fringe of American politics don’t manifest themselves in the same fashion as a military and/or corporate chain of command or even a resistance fighter cell structure. Some people think loyalty to the former President is the tie binding these groups together. Some people think there is a common ideology, but if such a thing exists, word hasn’t reached the ground troops involved.
They are wrong. What they have in common is a desire for a more authoritarian state. How that state would play out should they succeed is another question altogether, and a Donald Trump-type figure would play a role there.
The 21st century versions of the far right were emboldened by the past president. Racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and anti-Gay sentiments are no longer whispered behind closed doors or unspoken in the decision making processes of societal institutions.
You have to ask yourself, “Is this the new normal?”
The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas has closed indefinitely due to concerns over staff and visitor safety following harassment and assaults by attendees of “We Stand America” gathering.
Anti-immigration and conspiracy types were drawn to the south Texas rally with speakers on border security and “the direct connection to election integrity from a biblical worldview” hosted by Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Militia groups like the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters have made threats against the Center following its lawsuit aimed at stopping the Trump border wall from crossing their property. Q conspiracy cultists believe the Center is harboring an illegal sex trade and dead bodies.
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More than a dozen historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) received bomb threats on Tuesday, the first day of Black History Month.
Howard University, the University of the District of Columbia, Morgan State University and Coppin State University in Baltimore, Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Georgia, Kentucky State University in Frankfort, Kentucky, Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Edward Waters University in Jacksonville, Florida, Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, Mississippi, Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Spelman College in Atlanta, Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, and Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, all reported bomb threats, according to school officials and social media posts.
The FBI says it has identified six "tech savvy" juveniles as persons of interest in the threats and says they appear to be racially motivated.
I don’t think most Americans realize how dangerous this moment is. HBCUs terrorized with bomb threats. Swastikas on train stations and synagogues under attack. All while extremists whittle away at our basic democratic institutions.
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Finally, the Center for Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino reports that Los Angeles recorded the most hate crimes among large U.S. cities last year.
From the Los Angeles Times:
Incidents targeting Black people in Los Angeles were the most common and jumped 91% over 2020, the study concluded. While Black residents make up about 8% of the city’s population, they were the reported targets in 148 alleged hate crimes — a rate nearly triple their share of the population.
In most other large cities, Black people were also the most targeted group. An exception was New York City, where Jewish people were victimized most frequently.
“The invective on the internet of hate is being followed by vile acts on the streets,” Brian Levin, the Center’s executive director, said in an interview.
Other major cities across the U.S. also saw sharp increases in reported hate crimes, the center found. The number of reported incidents in New York City nearly doubled over the 2020 tally, to 538 cases, and doubled in San Francisco, to 112. San Jose saw a 29% increase and San Diego rose from 25 reported crimes in 2020 to 46 last year.
Those increases marked a continuation of a national spike in hate crimes in 2020. The FBI collected data from police departments across the country and tallied 8,263 reported hate crimes in 2020 — a 13% jump over 2019. The count was the highest since 2001.
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You won’t see the righties protesting this:
Email me at WritetoDougPorter@Gmail.com