
Americans who supported the Canada trucker protest in Ottawa have decided to create a convoy of their own, but it isn't quite working out as they'd hoped.
Earlier this morning, one Scranton trucker, Bob Bolus, desperately waited for others who promised they'd join him. No one came. Then he found out he had two flat tires. Finally, once the tires were changed he did a "parade" with his truck in downtown Scranton. Once he took off for Washington he was able to collect at least 7 others to join with the convoy to the Capitol.
NEW: Bob Bolus, the Scranton, Pa. truck driver leading the convoy today, is reporting two flat tires -- delaying the start of their journey to DC.\nhttps://wjla.com/news/local/truck-convoy-protest-dc-maryland-virginia-beltway-i495-traffic-gridlock-highway-what-we-know-covid-19-mandates-freedom-bob-bolus-scranton-harrisburg-pennsylvania-baltimore\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/7jBP5prXL4— 7News DC (@7News DC) 1645621293
Bob Bolus is on the highway headed down to DC. \n\nWe have driven up and down the line, His 18 wheeler is the only one in the convoy followed by four or five pick up trucks and SUVs (that we can tell). All other 18ws passing him\n\nHis claim of having 25 trucks driving down is falsepic.twitter.com/xvEeqxobnm— Julio-C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez (@Julio-C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez) 1645631679
Bob Bolus is on the highway headed down to DC. \n\nWe have driven up and down the line, His 18 wheeler is the only one in the convoy followed by four or five pick up trucks and SUVs (that we can tell). All other 18ws passing him\n\nHis claim of having 25 trucks driving down is falsepic.twitter.com/xvEeqxobnm— Julio-C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez (@Julio-C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez) 1645631679
Bolus is well known to the Scranton community. He has run for mayor frequently, even as a write-in candidate.
He's was also charged with insurance fraud.
Bolus, who was once convicted of insurance fraud, told another reporter who called him up that 25 trucks had convened and they were all headed to Harrisburg. That was at most 17m after Ch\u00e1vez filmed him driving his truck around downtown Scranton apparently alone.pic.twitter.com/SHC5Tfc45x— southpaw (@southpaw) 1645632455
Meanwhile, in the western United States, it became clear that those leaving California for Washington weren't going to arrive for the movement Wednesday. In fact, they estimate that it will take them a week to get to DC, which means that they'll also miss protests of the State of the Union address.
Over 1,000 vehicles met at Adelanto Stadium for the California convoy. Most of them aren't staying with the convoy all the way across the U.S. As Reuters reported, even the leading live-streamer plans to stop in Arizona.
\u201cThe problem is, not everybody\u2019s committing to this thing past the pizza shop.\n\nEven the person running the most-watched livestream is bailing after Arizona.\u201d https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1496543804056289286\u00a0\u2026— Laffy (@Laffy) 1645642666
The low numbers could be a problem if the intent is to lockdown the Beltway, which is 64 miles long.
In an exchange with a person claiming to be from Montana fought with a person talking about the time for praying is over. "GET OFF YOUR ASS AND FIGHT!!???" the person said. Bragging about building ARs and posting photos of a gun cabinet, the "Montana Patriot" said that they were heading to DC to "fight."
Stock photo.\n\nWho cares?\n\nThe trucker convoy is forming right now in MY state of Montana.\n\nAnd a few weeks from now, you\u2019ll be faced with a choice: stand up and fight,\u2026or sit in the corner and pray.\n\nWe\u2019ll see you in DC— Montana Patriot \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u271d\ufe0f (@Montana Patriot \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u271d\ufe0f) 1645643167
Over a thousand vehicles are now outside Adelanto Stadium, as \u2018The People\u2019s Convoy\u2019 towards Washington DC prepares to depart from Californiapic.twitter.com/tHqQnWzlRZ— Brendan Gutenschwager (@Brendan Gutenschwager) 1645643585
Utah has many cars as part of their convoy, though claims of a "thousand" vehicles appears exaggerated. While there might be "six miles" of the convoy, there are quite a few large spaces between each vehicle.
Utah,USA \n\n Utah Freedom Convoy!!\n\n 6-Miles Long\n\nNext Stop! \n \u2026Washington DCpic.twitter.com/F1KtCrEv13— \ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99~DEAN~\ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99 (@\ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99~DEAN~\ud83d\udd34\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99) 1645642503
"The People’s Convoy will abide by agreements with local authorities, and terminate in the vicinity of the DC area, but will NOT be going into DC proper," they said in a press release, according to WJLA news.
Washington, DC has laws about the constant movement of traffic. As the Capitol city, Washington has many areas with heavy security perimeters around them. The narrow neighborhood streets and constant battles for parking means the city isn't a friendly place for anyone stopping on the streets. In fact, DC DOT regulates "through truck travel" the website says. "Few streets in the District of Columbia are completely restricted to trucks. Except for a few locations near sensitive federal structures, a truck restriction means that the street is closed to through truck traffic, but open to trucks making local deliveries."
The laws also say, "no trucks are permitted on the Roosevelt Bridge entering/exiting Washington DC and Virginia." they also say, "trucks are prohibited on I-66 east of I-495."
While both Maryland and Virginia have Republican governors, blocking highways in their states isn't likely to go over well. The Beltway is the route typically taken for Pentagon workers, NSA staff, CIA staff, Andrews Air Force Base, and others.
One trucker linked the orbit of Pluto to their overall goals of the convoy. It was supposed to be about protesting vaccine mandates, which have been struck down by the Supreme Court. Given the lighter Omicron variant more and more cities have begun to eliminate most mandates.
One of the Trucker Convoy accounts posted that Pluto\u2019s orbit is significant to what they are trying to accomplish.\n\nThey say they are only protesting mandates, but this post is about revolution.pic.twitter.com/ynB73FGJJn— PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1645585201
People on these convoy streams are already complaining about traffic and how long it's taking for them to get moving, which I previously thought \u2014 correct me if I'm wrong \u2014 was the entire point of doing this.— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1645644115
The American trucker convoy, at present, is very, very disorganized. Attendance is a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands in Telegram groups.\n\nBut it meets the technical definition of a convoy if you include F-150s and Corollas, and they\u2019ve raised a ton of cash.\n\nSo who knows!— Ben Collins (@Ben Collins) 1645639103
I swear these folks in the convoy channels are just posting pictures of traffic and trucks on the highway, and calling it a convoy. I guess that\u2019s one way to will something into reality.— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D) 1645635435
As the news and videos of the small convoys spread, they've become the butt of the joke for those living in the DMV metro area.
See the comments below:
I hope @GovLarryHogan can handle all three of these #Scranton truckers !https://twitter.com/i/events/1496538480268226573?s=21\u00a0\u2026— Evil Corbett (@Evil Corbett) 1645645466
Some of the US convoy channels I\u2019ve been monitoring have taken a turn towards paranoia, and there\u2019s a lot of discussion tonight about the convoy being a trap and/or getting infiltrated by the CIA or antifa. I saw multiple comments saying \u201cit\u2019s glowing.\u201d— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D) 1645589822
My friends in DC: there\u2019s one truck left. We should be ok. \n\nThis whole effort has been a big joke, organized by some incompetent moron from Scranton.https://twitter.com/juliocesrchavez/status/1496496610108489744\u00a0\u2026— Sven S. Svensson (@Sven S. Svensson) 1645644951
so they are protesting high gas prices by *checks notes* driving all the way down here from scranton to just circle the beltway.....— Tim Zolandz (@Tim Zolandz) 1645644836
This morning there was one guy driving his truck in a circle at a mall in Scranton, Pennsylania. It's like an episode of #TheOffice! Even his name sounds made up #BobBolus. \n #TruckersConvoyhttps://twitter.com/JulioCesrChavez/status/1496500749966233604?t=x50nzdwDhYfSIcJnCTQnxA&s=19\u00a0\u2026— \u2744\ufe0f Je ~ GetTheVaxx! \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a (@\u2744\ufe0f Je ~ GetTheVaxx! \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a) 1645643627
Turns out sitting in traffic, even if you're intentionally causing it, isn't as fun as it might have seemed when you were watching it on TVhttps://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1496566007690895373\u00a0\u2026— Robert Maguire (@Robert Maguire) 1645645253
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