The Pennsylvania ‘Freedom Convoy’ failed to live up to the hype on Wednesday as the caravan which was organized by Scranton-area towing business owner Bob Bolus, was much smaller than expected.
On Tuesday, Bolus claims the convoy, modeled after Canada’s anti-mandate trucker protest that shut down Ottawa for days, would “choke” the nation’s capital like a boa constrictor. At the time he had no idea how many truckers would show up just that there was “tremendous interest.”
That was not the case on Wednesday. Bolus was reportedly considering canceling the convoy because no one showed up initially. The event was further delayed after Bulos’ own truck got two flat tires.
According to a journalist following the convoy, it was made up of eight vehicles, one 18-wheeler driven by Bolus, five pick-up trucks, one SUV and one sedan.
“We’re not putting a chokehold on D.C. today,” Bolus told the Daily Beast. “Not to say that it wouldn’t happen in the very near future. It’s just going to be an idea of what’s to come.”
Instead, he said they are going to “peacefully” sit in Beltway traffic and just “go with the flow.”
The convoy is one of several organized across the country heading to D.C to protest vaccine mandates as governors ease pandemic restrictions.
The much larger convoy from California dubbed “The People’s Convoy” made up of about two dozen trucks and a number of other vehicles began their cross-country trip to Washington D.C on Wednesday. They are scheduled to arrive in the D.C area on March 5.
It is not clear how many plan to travel the entire journey from California to Washington D.C.
On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops Washington, D.C., ahead of the truck convoy.
