The so-called “People’s Convoy” of truckers that recently showed up in the D.C. area to protest… something is shutting down, at least in terms of its efforts directly involving D.C. It’s been some three weeks since the group arrived to the D.C. locale, and not much of anything in terms of actually accomplishing the group’s goals has actually happened. Trucker convoy protests were originally planned in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address at the beginning of March, and since then, the “People’s Convoy” group has met with Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, along with Republican House members. They haven’t even met with a single Democratic member of Congress, although they’d apparently attempted to do so. Now, the convoy is leaving, although precise specifications for when that might happen weren’t immediately clear. (UPDATE: They’re leaving Thursday, the 31st.)
➡️ Monday, March 28th at 7:30 PM
The Select Committee will vote on a report recommending that the House of Representatives cite Peter Navarro and Daniel Scavino, Jr. for criminal contempt of Congress and refer them for prosecution.
— January 6th Committee (@January6thCmte) March 24, 2022
As reported by The Daily Beast, “People’s Convoy” co-organizer Mike Landis presented the plan to leave the D.C. area on Sunday night. “So what I want to know is, what do you think about heading to California?” Landis asked listeners, receiving an enthusiastically supportive response. Landis explained that the group would be taking a warmer route back to California, saying: “We’re gonna take a little more southern route, so it’s a little warmer than this.” Convoy members haven’t been staying in D.C. — they instead metaphorically pitched their tent in Hagerstown, Maryland, which is about an hour and a half from the capital.
After aggravating DC residents for three weeks, tonight, People's Convoy organizer Mike Landis said it's time to pack it up and take the convoy back to California for the time being.
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) March 28, 2022
During the group’s stay there, convoy members repeatedly circled the Beltway, which is a highway that surrounds D.C. — and despite members’ frankly embarrassingly paranoid beliefs that they were being trailed by “antifa,” these displays of force — or something — do not appear to have in any meaningful way changed the calculations of those in power regarding policy areas such as COVID-19. Restrictions associated with the government’s response to the pandemic are a key point of contention for the group.
Landis insisted that he’d “come back to finish this job” at some point, but did demonstrators ever start a “job”? Or did they just pour huge sums of money into an ultimately pointless show of the strength of the right-wing victim complex? Trucker convoy members also eventually went into D.C., but this slight change in tactics didn’t alter the overwhelming drive towards failure that defined this whole ludicrous endeavor.
People's Convoy organizer Brian Brase said this morning he will be leaving Hagerstown again for many days as the group continues to splinter. "I am not running away," he tries to reassure the crowd.
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) March 27, 2022
At one point, members of the convoy driving through D.C. were rhetorically stopped in their tracks by a single bicyclist who slowly rode in front of the group, forcing them to slow down. When asked on video about what they were doing, the cyclist (apparently mockingly) replied: “What’s that? I didn’t hear you… I didn’t hear you, what did you say?” Asked again, the individual retorted: “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you—it’s too loud.” Trucks behind them were honking. Notably, this whole debacle isn’t the first recent occasion that a right-wing show of force has basically petered out — a recent Trump rally in Georgia was also reported to have had a remarkably unenthusiastic crowd. “This crowd is hardly applauding. Not the same sort of enthusiasm I’ve seen at other Trump rallies,” reporter Greg Bluestein said as Trump himself spoke.
People's Convoy lead organizer Brian Brase yelled that the "Capitol building is our building" and said American taxpayers "had the right" to toss up their feet on Nancy Pelosi's desk https://t.co/4zTRw97H79
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 27, 2022
