The AFL has been watching and covering The People’s Convoy since they first announced they would be doing a trucker convoy after seeing what took place in Canada. The Abilene Freedom League has put out a series of articles on our blog covering both their journey and their message. It was great for us to get out and physically show our support as they passed through Abilene on their way to California.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Convoy, they started on February 23 in Adelanto, California, and spent ten days traveling across the country on their way to DC. They made a temporary home at Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland. Each day the Convoy would ride around the Beltway trying to bring attention to their goals. As time went on, the Convoy started entering DC to put added pressure on Lawmakers.
Their message has always been a simple one. End all of these illegal covid mandates and end the Emergency Powers Act as it was never meant to be in use for anything other than a temporary emergency. During the Convoy’s time in DC, they got a chance to meet with a handful of Lawmakers such as Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Ron Johnson, and Congressman Jim Jordan, read more about this meeting here. Cruz even took the time to come speak at Hagerstown, ride with the Convoy, and give a big press conference alongside them in DC, check it out here.
The plan was to continue in DC until the mandates and the emergency powers act were ended. Then on March 29, which was Day 36 of the convoy, organizers got word about a list of freedom assaulting covid bills that California had announced and planned to start trying to vote on two weeks later. Naming them the “Tyrannical Ten”, they asked members what they thought and decided that the Convoy would head back to California to battle this before it got passed and then head back to Washington DC after.
They announced that they would head out on March 31 and began to make their way to Los Angeles for the Defeat the Mandates Rally on April 10. California is attempting to pass 10 tyrannical bills that the Convoy is wanting to defeat, read about the bills here. Since then, the Convoy has been making its way back across the Country. They made stops in North Carolina and Arkansas. They made it to Texas on Sunday and staged in Weatherford for the evening. The plan for Day 42 of the convoy was to drive down I-20 to Midland but that fell through and the Mayor Shannon Thomason of Big Springs stepped up and let them stay at an airstrip. The Mayor had been following The People’s Convoy since the beginning and even ended the Emergency Powers in his town after learning about it from them.
Along the way, they would be passing us in Abilene. The Abilene Freedom League saw our chance to show support to the Convoy and started putting out notices on social media, inviting anyone who could come out. People started grabbing their signs and American Flags and headed for the FM 600 overpass.
For what was a short notice with little to no media coverage, Abilene had a good turnout of around 30 patriots with at least a third being Abilene Freedom League members. Even KTXS came out to cover it.
The Abilene effort was led by Abilene Freedom League Chairman, Mandi Rhodes. She was also interviewed by the news crew, telling KTXS "We really support and appreciate them, so we just came to wave our banner and tell them that we love them."
The Abilene Freedom League banner was among the sea of American Flags and showed both The People’s Convoy and many other people where the Abilene Freedom League stands. Both groups are based around freedom, ending mandates, and choice so it is a natural fit.
Two members of the convoy stopped their truck on the side of the road and came up to join the crowd on the overpass. As the convoy came by they were noticed by the truckers. Trucker G and his wife Mrs. G make up one of the biggest live streamers following the Convoy. "Look right here. Look at that bridge. Abilene...Abilene, prettiest town that I've ever seen." exclaimed Trucker G to his livestream followers as they saw the overpass that Abilene Freedom League and other patriots lined in support. You can see it for yourself at around the two-minute mark of his video.
There were also few supporters on the side of the road and the overpass in Clyde, including the Director of Online Content, Kay Kay Lineweaver.
The Abilene Freedom League was glad to be out there to show what we stand for and will continue to support the efforts of The People’s a Convoy so look for more articles in the future.
Written by Chris Turner Online Content Committee Chair