‘This is 1776 again’: Trucker-led ‘Freedom Convoy’ holds rally in Monrovia
Peter Blanchard, The Reporter Times
Thu, March 3, 2022, 5:23 AM·
MONROVIA, Ind. — A convoy started by American truckers fed up with COVID-19 mandates made a two-day stop in the Crossroads of America this week on its way to the nation’s capitol.
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The People’s Convoy, which departed from Southern California on Feb. 23., making its way through states like Arizona, Texas and Missouri.
The convoy held a rally at Ted Everett Farm Equipment in Monrovia on Wednesday night.
The convoy is one of a handful of trucker-led groups that are modeled after recent protests against vaccine mandates in Canada. Organizers are asking elected officials at the local, state and national level to lift all COVID-19 related mandates and end states of emergency.
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While the movement is led by truckers, they made up a small minority of those that attended Wednesday’s rally, which included individuals and families from states as far away as California and Oklahoma. Many arrived Tuesday night and camped out overnight in their RVs, vehicles or tents, some of which were decked with pro-Trump merchandise and conservative slogans like “Let’s Go Brandon,” ahead of Wednesday’s rally.
Ted Everett, who has run his farming equipment business for the past 35 years, said he received a call from The People’s Convoy Monday to see if he would host them. He said he was happy to oblige.
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Don Dykstra, a retired auto plant worker and U.S. Army veteran, traveled from Grand Rapids, Mich, to donate food and water to the convoy. He said he feels that getting a vaccine should be a choice, not a mandate.
Dave Copenhaver, of Indianapolis, said he came to the event to help coordinate trucker donations.
“I’m trying to do my part to help out,” he said.
Among the guest speakers at Wednesday’s rally were Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who encouraged participants to show up to their local school board, city council and county commissioner meetings to make their feelings about mandates known.
“That’s where this pollution is starting,” Rokita said.
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Mike Landis, another co-organizer, said the movement has become more than a show of support for truckers.
“We’re just the ones who started things off,” Landis told the cro at Wednesday’s rally in northern Morgan County.
The convoy plans to continue along I-70 toward Indianapolis on Thursday and arrive the area of Washington, D.C. by Saturday, according to the group’s website.
Contact reporter Peter Blanchard at 765-346-2942 or pblanchard@reporter-times.com. Follow him on Twitter @peterlblanchard.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Freedom Convoy: Truckers hold in Monrovia ahead of D.C. protest
