Hundreds attend “Freedom Convoy” rally at Virginia Motor Speedway
by Tom Chillemi –
Truckers from across the nation participating in the Freedom Convoy movement converged on Washington, D.C., this week to protest COVID-19 mandates, along with other issues.
En route to D.C., one of the convoys, “Virginia Freedom Convoy to DC 2022,” rallied on Sunday afternoon at the Virginia Motor Speedway in Middlesex County’s Jamaica community. About 60 to 70 tractor-trailers participated in the convoy that stopped in Jamaica, according to Topping’s Brian Tidball. They were entertained by a live band at the speedway and many of the 500 people on hand wore items with “Trump” labels, though it was not an official Trump rally. There were also food and souvenir vendors on hand serving the crowd.
The convoy that stopped in Middlesex was one of multiple similar ones participating in the protest movement. It moved in formation to Fredericksburg on Monday and joined other truckers at the Dominion Raceway, where they totaled about 1,000 rigs, according to a post on Facebook by Captain Clay Higgins. “We’re not going to sit by idly and allow the demise of our republic,” said Higgins at the Fredericksburg rally. “We’re going to stand for our rights and freedom. We’re going to preserve our republic and going to restore the America that lives within.”
Higgins indicated the change will come through the elections.
The American Trucker Convoy to DC 2022 is a nationwide initiative protesting COVID-19 mandates. They circled the Capital Beltway as a group slowing traffic on Monday. It has been reported the trucks will not go into Washington, D.C.
Reportedly, about 1,000 trucks were based at Hagerstown, Md., before heading to Washington, D.C.
In February, truckers caused congestion in Ottawa, Canada, as they protested vaccinations required to cross the border into America.
