The California-to-Washington protest is not the only anti-mandate convoy that has sprung up to mirror the ongoing mobilization in Canada. A similar page on GiveSendGo - a rival crowdfunding site frequented by the far right - has so far raised $7.2 million out of a goal of $16 million. convoy will reach Washington, though within these encrypted messaging channels, supporters routinely offer food, supplies and other logistical support, based on POLITICO’s review of the online discussions.Īfter GoFundMe, the crowdfunding site, removed the fundraising page for the Canadian convoy, far-right influencers like Jack Posobiec shared links via their large social media followings to alternative funding sites. In communication channels on Telegram, an encrypted messaging service, anonymous social media users have railed to tens of thousands of channel members against the alleged Covid-19 oversteps of President Joe Biden’s administration and shared videos and other posts from the Canadian truckers’ convoy to boost support for similar action in the U.S. convoy is to push back at vaccine and mask mandates - messages that have been repeated widely by right wing politicians and supporters since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. “It’s concerning how this may play out if they get to D.C.” 6 riots,” said Ciaran O’Connor, an analyst for the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that tracks online extremism and which has been following the global protests. “A lot of this has worrying parallels to the build-up to the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots calling for Trump supporters to kill those whom she claimed had aided foreign governments in undermining the 2020 presidential election, based on a video posted on Twitter. That includes Leigh Dundas, a California lawyer and founder of the Freedom Fighter Nation, who gave a speech on the eve of the Jan. Organizers have dubbed their movement “the People’s Convoy” and say they are working with two groups - Freedom Fighter Nation and Restore Liberty - whose founders are closely tied to right wing politics, based on POLITICO’s review of social media and online records. While the protests claim they are non-partisan, many of those involved in the so-called truckers’ convoy have ties to either the MAGA movement or the Republican party. Organizers offered to reimburse gas costs for those who showed up to the event. “United we stand, divided we fall! Hope to see you all in Coachella,” the organizers of the convoy, including Brase, said in their Facebook post, a reference to the Southern California valley that the group is using as a meeting point. 7 that the nationwide protests would be starting imminently. convoy and a recent guest on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show, posted on his personal Facebook page on Feb. POLITICO was not able to verify the legitimacy of the claims, and several other rival convoys - some of which are also expected to leave from California in early March - have been promoted widely via social media and right-leaning mainstream media.īrian Brase, one of the leaders of the U.S. “Now it’s time for the citizens of the United States of America to unite and demand restoration of our constitutional rights.” “Our brothers and sisters of the highway succeeded in opening Canadians’ eyes about the unconstitutional mandates and hardships forced onto their people,” the organizers of the upcoming event said on their Facebook page, which has more than 52,000 followers. On more mainstream social networks, similar groups with large followings also have sprouted up, sharing their vocal support for the anti-mandate nationwide convoy. In Ottawa, confederate flags and swastikas were spotted among the supporters of the truckers’ convoy.Īs part of the upcoming protest, multiple encrypted messaging channels - often with tens of thousands of supporters - have begun sharing tips on logistics, fundraising and other technical support aimed at clogging major cities with trucks and other vehicles to voice their anger against Covid-19 restrictions. It also has garnered the attention of more extremist groups, including white supremacists, who have repeatedly shared their support for the anti-mandate protests that have become a rallying cry for similar movements across North America, the European Union and Australia.
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