Americans inspired by the Canadian trucker protest now have a FB group 100k strong going for a copycat convoy to Washington, D.C.
(Remains to be seen how well-organized this ends up being or if the group survives moderation.)
They've picked a tentative start date of March 1.
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Ideas touted so far include:
-asking Kid Rock to join the convoy -occupying all state capitals at once -surrounding/blockading D.C. entirely with their trucks
-blocking off the U.S.-Mexico border
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The group, which was created in December 2020, has been gaining 10s of thousands of followers a day.
This isn't unusual on right-wing social media as people will invite their entire friend lists to join.
It also underwent a name change from "Save the Flag."
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Prior to the Jan 27 name change, page admins tried to use the group to organize a number of other right-wing "freedom" themed events. Many are in Arkansas.
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Supposedly, several of these "convoy to D.C." groups are also on Telegram. We haven't searched there specifically.
If the current misinformation landscape re: the Ottawa protest is any indication, we can probably expect big exaggerations about numbers involved.
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Astroturf machine goes brrrr
(Membership is up to 137k now)
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A totally unpredictable update: the Freedom Convoy to D.C. group has been shut down.
Fox & Friends is on it.
They're trying to promote on other channels like Telegram/Gettr. But without the boomer power of Facebook organizing behind them, a big flop is looking more likely
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UPDATE: there's been a lot of rearranging going on.
Much organizing has moved off FB to Telegram, but a FB group 47k strong called "The People's Convoy" has emerged.
The admins have had to turn off posting by non-admins to keep the page up.
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Another popular destination for the convoy that's been suggested is the Super Bowl.
One poster adds, "especially with all that demonic shit that takes place there."
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In this extremely bizarre comment chain, people discuss avoiding Washington, D.C. as a convoy destination because they believe Biden's presence in the White House to be faked.
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Confusion continues in the People's Convoy group.
Members can't make heads or tails of what's happening with so many new groups and channels now appearing.
One woman says, "Why are we not all just working together" and the only response is from someone hawking T-shirts.
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Admins of the page insist this morning that theirs is the only legit group, and others popping up on Telegram and elsewhere may be "infiltrators" plotting sabotage.
One commenter notes that the people fundraising across platforms are "taking advantage."
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If this seems chaotic, that's because it is.
Boomers on Facebook who already have a tenuous grasp on reality are struggling to determine where to send their $$. The grifting and opportunism is rampant.
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The question of the hour is...what's worse: an organized convoy of right-wing extremists, conspiracy theorists and tag-alongs headed for D.C., or a woefully disorganized one?
They're both bad news for different reasons.
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UPDATE: despite mass confusion on social media about organization and the recent implosion of scores of Telegram channels due to anti-fascist infiltration, far-right propaganda outlet is now reporting a start date of February 23 for the U.S. "People's Convoy."
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Plans appear to be coalescing in northern IL. We'll just have to wait and see how many people turn out here and elsewhere:
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We'd like to address some critical Illinois "Freedom Convoy" updates this morning:
Organizers claim to be planning a start at Gurnee Mills Mall on February 27.
From there, they say they'll be traveling to Indianapolis.
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