TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
On Tuesday morning, March 1, 2022, at 7:00 a.m., a small but dedicated group of northern Wisconsin residents gathered together in the parking lot of the old Walmart building to begin their journey in support of what is being called “The People’s Convoy,” also sometimes referred to as the “Truckers Convoy” or the “Freedom Convoy.”
What started with Canadian truckers protesting vaccine mandates has spawned a movement in the United States, made up of American truckers and allies, who say, “It’s time to end the declaration of National Emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and restore our nation’s Constitution,” according to their website. (www.thepeoplesconvoy.org)
Their official declaration reads, in part, “We the People of the United States, in Order to restore our once perfect Union, re-establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense of all, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty, do ordain and establish the restoration movement of The People’s Convoy for the United States of America.”
“WHO WE ARE: We are truckers, moms, students, nurses, doctors, investors, county workers, teachers, cowboys, loggers, engineers, sanitation workers, professors, cashiers, flight attendants, pilots, sales reps, physical therapists. WE ARE, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, married, single, divorced, separated, gay, straight. WE ARE Black, White, Asian, Native American. WE ARE immigrants, natives: WE ARE citizens of the free world.”
“To our elected officials that believe they rule us: YOU work for US. Our constitution was written to provide enough power to act on a national level, but not enough to deprive the people of fundamental rights. The people are prepared to see this challenge through — as we have seen through all challenges to our Freedom in the past. And we will prevail and prosper.”
“To our brave and courageous neighbors to the North — our Canadian brothers and sisters who led the charge — we join your call to Freedom with THE PEOPLE’S CONVOY.”
As a part of the movement, truckers and supporters officially began traveling to the Washington DC area on Feb. 23 from various parts of the country.
Locals join in and show support
Locally, William C. Fisher, organized the Tuesday-morning meet-up for those who wanted to join up with larger convoys further south, and for community members to simply show their support or ride along for a bit in support of their efforts. He and some of the others will convoy down and join up with larger convoys on their way to Le Roy, Ill., where a large gathering is planned, on to Indianapolis, and ultimately to the Washington DC area.
“I plan on going all the way to DC if its safe,” Fisher said.
Jason and Kerri Jameson from Rhinelander came to Merrill to join the convoy in their bus-turned-camper. Likewise, “We’re gonna plan to go as far as we can,” Kerri said.
The northern Wisconsin residents aren’t planning to go entirely into Washington DC though. They will gather with others who convoy to the area outside the city, Fisher said. Safety is paramount. “We’re not going to repeat Jan. 6th,” he said.
Standing up for change
Fisher said he got involved “Because of how much it was affecting our families and our communities,” he said.
Two years ago when jobs and schools and day cares shut down, “we did it because we were told to do it,” Fisher said. “We show respect to our government by doing as they ask, but the thing is, two years is pushing it. People are out doing things, and they’re being scolded for it. Or if you go into a store, you get chased out for not wearing a mask. … The Emergency Powers Act has gotta stop. Right now the Emergency Powers Act trumps the constitution.” And that’s just not right, he said.
For his family, the disruption of school and personal freedoms was just too much. He and his wife have two children whose lives were being disrupted. The kids were exhibiting anxiety and it was affecting their ability to learn, he said. “So we started home schooling, and they started thriving again.”
“My wife has underlying conditions,” Fisher said. “She’s had COVID, now we’re past that. We’re cautious, we still use hand sanitizer, sometimes she wears a mask. But it should be her choice if she wants to. That’s the whole point about this … This should be our medical freedoms, it should be our medical choices in order to do these things. So that’s the only thing we really want the government to understand. The 14th amendment straight up is the medical freedom amendment, so the freedom to choose.”
His wife’s employment is also at risk. She’s a caregiver. “They want to make her get the shot, and if she doesn’t, she gets fired,” he said. “And she said straight up, ‘Well, then OK, fire me.’” The only reason they haven’t fired her yet is because they don’t have enough people, he said.
It’s not about taking sides; it’s about the freedom to choose
It’s not a matter of taking sides, Fisher said. “It’s about everyone having the right to choose for themselves and other people respecting that choice.”
“I’ve had people coming up and saying, ‘I’m so glad you’re doing this, because I don’t know if I’m gonna have the booster-4,000 coming up.’ he said. “They’re tired of it, too.”
The Jamesons said they, too, now home school their children as a result of COVID, and the restrictions have impacted their family. “We pulled them out of school,” Kerri Jameson said. She explained that one of their daughters “had a MRSA infection from wearing masks at school, so we didn’t want to risk that anymore. She had it in her nose, and it was pretty bad. She was six. Now they’re home schooled; I’m home schooling them.”
Their children, now ages five and seven, are doing much better, the Jamesons said. They are traveling to the DC area as a family and hope they are setting a positive example for their children.
“I want them to know freedom. I don’t want them to live in fear,” Kerri said when asked what she hopes the children will learn from the trip.
“How to stick up for yourself and do what’s right,” Jason added.
Showing support
Howard and Laurie Hottenstein of Antigo came to the Merrill send-off and will drive with the convoy for a bit. “Just showing support here,” Howard said when asked why them came. They will travel “Just a little ways down the road,” he said. “I’ve got to be at work at noon. Just figured we’d give a show of support. We believe in what they stand for.”
“Let people live the way they want to live and stop all these mandates,” Howard said. “All these rights that are being taken away. You know, enough is enough. You know, we did it for two years now. Let’s go on with life, open our businesses back up, and build our country back up basically.”
A Merrill woman there with her husband who wished only to be identified as “Sara” shared her thoughts: “Hold the line,” she said. They, too, set out with the group as a show of support.
Horns honked as the group set out, both the horns of those driving and those of others in support of them, and even at the last minute, some pickup trucks and pickups with campers were catching up to drive along for a time and show support.
On overpasses as the group traveled south toward Wausau, groups of supporters were gathered waving flags to show their support for those traveling in the convoy.
Becky Schleif from the Town of Pine River came to the Merrill send-off in the parking lot to wave her American flag and show her support for those able to join the convoy.
“I was watching all the stuff going on in Canada, and I thought, ‘How cool would it be if we did something here, you know?’” Schleif said. When she learned of the send-off in Merrill on Facebook, she knew she wanted to be a part of it. She said she tried getting some of her friends and co-workers to join her, but most of them start work at 7:00 a.m.
Fortunately, Schleif said, she starts work at 7:30. “It worked out perfect.”
“We’re a part of something bigger,” she said. “Something needs to change. Fast.”
Fisher said a team of lawyers, frontline doctors, a group of pilots, a group of motorcyclists, and then the truckers plan to gather in the DC area as a culmination of The People’s Convoy movement. Representatives from those groups will travel into DC for talks to try to end the mandates.