At first, MAGA trucker Bob Bolus enthusiastically announced that his temporary “free convoy” would set off from Scranton, Pennsylvania to DC this week. will “strangle” the nation’s capital like an austerity to protest the vaccine mandate.
But on Wednesday, when his overcrowded convoy turned out to be just a careful process of one man, Bolus backed off, telling The Daily Beast his plans had changed and he will not attempt to obstruct traffic.
“We’re not going to interfere with DC today,” the Pennsylvania-based trucker told The Daily Beast shortly after noon, before quickly regaining hope of one day interrupting. Beltway traffic: “Not to say it won’t” t happen in the very near future. It’s just an idea of what’s going to happen. ”
This particular wing of the convoy movement was originally slated to reach the DC metro area around midday, in the hopes of triggering a congested blockade like Canada’s anti-vaccine authorized trucker protest that caused chaos in Ottawa until it was disbanded by the police. Earlier this week, the Pentagon approved employing nearly 700 National Guard personnel to assist local government with the potential for multiple convoys to blockade the DC area.
But now, as Bolus confessed to The Daily Beast, his tiny convoy will just sit “peacefully” in Beltway traffic and not attempt to induce any such support.
“We will go with the flow. Today we will go with the flow of vehicles,” a defeated Bolus told the Beast. “If they go at two miles per hour, we’ll be at two miles per hour.”
As of midday on Wednesday, there were only eight cars in his group, as reported by producer Julio-César Chávez by Reuterswho had accompanied the Bolus convoy.
The 18-wheeler driven by Bolus had a number of assistants driving the SUV and tow truck, but otherwise, according to Chávez, all the other large rigs on the road passed the convoy. The group’s trip began to be delayed after Bolus had two flat tires, ABC 7 News report.
Earlier this week, Bolus attracted media attention because of his motorcade after tell Fox 5 DC that he intends to “shut down” the Capital Beltway, likening his group of alleged truck drivers to a deadly tipping that “strangles you, suffocates you and it swallows you up – and those are the things” what we will do with DC”
The truck driver has built a small following on Facebook for his pro-Trump antics, but some of his followers seem skeptical of the idea of the convoy in the first place. “I agree with this cause, but I must warn you that the fastest way to lose that support in the DC area is to disrupt business and people’s commute to a bad state. than now,” such an advocate Written.
The day before departing for DC, Bolus extended his protest against the authorization of the convoy movement including grievances such as the death of rioter Ashli Babbitt on January 6, the teaching of “critical race theory” in schools, and rising fuel costs.
Asked if the small convoy of a tractor-trailer and several gas-guzzling SUVs needed to burn off the increasingly expensive fuel, Bolus said no.
“We don’t consider it a waste of gas or anything,” he said. “We as Americans feel we are standing up for our rights.”
