People’s Convoy will continue its trek to DC through Illinois despite threats from state police

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The People’s Convoy will caravan through Illinois on Tuesday despite a harsh warning from state police discouraging protesters and threatening legal action for traffic disruptions. 

‘A planned event designed to impede normal traffic flow is dangerous to the innocent motoring public,’ Col. Margaret McGreal, of the ISP Division of Patrol, told WGN.

‘Those who choose to participate in events that intentionally endanger the public and violate Illinois law will be subject to the enforcement of applicable laws and could potentially be held liable for traffic crashes occurring as a result of their actions.’

Kris Young, who is the admin for the group’s Facebook page, reiterated that the convoy will continue it’s route through the Prairie State and along the Dan Ryan Expressway regardless of the warning.

‘We encourage the people of this state to come out and show your support and/or join us!!’ she wrote online.

The People’s Convoy – which embarked from California last week on an 11-day trek to Washington D.C. to protest COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates – has raised more than $1.5million in donations made through its own website to support drivers as they travel to the capital in a 100-vehicle convoy which stretches 8 miles long. 

The group has called on President Joe Biden to end the national emergency originally declared at the start of the pandemic, as well as any remaining coronavirus mandates. The truckers allege the government has infringed upon their constitutional rights with the mandates. 

Supporters of the truckers have slammed the Illinois State Police as being hypocritical in its response to the protest, citing how the law enforcement agency had previously shutdown the same motorway for a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.  

The Peoples Convoy NFT Twitter account, responding to the warning, said Tuesday: ‘They say these planned events are a danger to public safety because traffic backups are, in their opinion, a major contributor to traffic crashes, and even death.’

‘Our convoy has traveled the whole way to your great state of Illinois with ZERO traffic infractions, and in fact sheriffs offices along the way have escorted or even praised the organization and safety that is built into this. 

‘So while we are only in your state a short time, and we are not impacting any major city, maybe it would be a good thing for you to witness what the sheriffs have. The shear commitment to safety, and security that this Convoy has,’ the organizers wrote. 

Other social media users have slammed the state for its allege hypocrisy, noting that in August 2020 troopers set up a safe route of travel for Black Lives Matter protesters marching along the Dan Ryan Expressway.

‘Illinois is a People’s Convoy no-go zone,’ tweeted Dan Proft. ‘ISP on the #BlackLivesMatter protest in Aug. ’20 that shut down the Dan Ryan Xway: “We have been in contact with the protest organizers to set up a safe route of travel…will protect the rights of those seeking to peacefully protest.”‘ 

‘Welcome to Illinois! The Land of Communism,’ echoed Erin Geary, user @commonfolk365.

‘Utterly sickening. The rank and file tend to be good. But ISP/CPD leadership is complacent. We support the police and they shut down peaceful protests. No good deed goes unpunished,’ added Matt McKeon, user @keon3_mc.

‘How can anyone not see that @DanProft is just pointing out the hypocrisy? Standing in a moving highway is 1000x more dangerous than a slower moving “convoy,”’ Twitter user @ASSIST70002940 replied. ‘IMO-Canada already won the big balls competition so this seems pointless, but what gives them less rights than others?’ 

The People’s Convoy left Adelanto, California, about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, last Wednesday with more than two dozen 18-wheeler trucks and about 50 pickups and recreational vehicles. It has since grown to include about 100 vehicles and spans a distance of eight miles, according to organizers.  

The group is expected to be joined by more than 20 other truck cavalcades, including ones leaving from Texas and Pennsylvania, when it arrives in D.C. 

The convoy was met with a wave of support as it rolled through Missouri on Monday.

Large crowds of supporters were seen lining the roadways and waving American flags as the trucks drove along the interstate, honking the horns as their supporters cheered.

Although the convoy did not make an overnight stop in Missouri, the group did hold a rally in St. Robert on Monday afternoon. 

Former Governor Eric Greitens, a Republican who led the state from January 2017 until June 2018 when he resigned amid sexual misconduct and campaign finance allegations, was one of the speakers at the rally, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The ex-governor is said to have issued his support for the truckers and was reportedly met with cheers and applause.

The People’s Convoy organizers claim their protest is about freedom and securing an end to governmental overreach and ‘unconstitutional’ coronavirus restrictions.

‘That’s the whole point of this, it’s about freedom. Your freedom to choose what you feels is best for your life, within the morals and guidelines of our Constitution,’ convoy participant Mike told KOCO Sunday.

The protest comes as nearly every state in America either has lifted mask orders or has scheduled a day to do so in the near future, with the exception of Hawaii. Even the U.S. Capitol, which has had a controversial mask mandate since legislators returned in Summer 2020, lifted mask orders over the weekend. 

Vaccine mandates, possibly the most controversial COVID-related mandates, are starting to become a thing of the past as well as New York City aims to drop them for businesses like bars and restaurants in the coming week.  

Despite hitting several speed bumps along the way, including a four-vehicle crash, the People’s Convoy is still scheduled to reach the capital city by March 5. 

Two semis and two pickup trucks from the caravan collided on the Will Rogers Turnpike in Oklahoma around 5.30pm Sunday when in route to Vinita, an Oklahoma city located west of the Missouri and Arkansas borders.

State police told KTUL the crash, which occurred about 15 miles west of the Big Cabin exit, resulted in injury. 

However it remains unclear at this time how many people were injured and the status of their conditions as the Oklahoma Highway Patrol did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment. 

The interstate was closed down for half an hour while officials addressed the accident. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.   

Another cross-country protest, known as the Freedom Convoy USA 2022, was instructed to abandon the campaign and merge with other larger anti-mandate groups racing toward the capital after the group arrived in Las Vegas Saturday with only five trucks in its ranks.

The disbanded group, which was named in solidarity with the ‘Freedom Convoy’ trucker protests that occurring in Canada over the past month, said they were expecting ‘1,000-2,000 truckers’ prior to departing Los Angeles for the cross-country excursion.

Freedom Convoy USA was  set to make stops in Salt Lake City, Denver and other major cities before arriving in Washington on March 1, ahead of Biden’s inaugural State of the Union address.

The group is set to meet up with the People’s Convoy on Tuesday and Wednesday near Indianapolis. Some truckers already connected with the group during its trek through Oklahoma.  

Meantime, federal authorities are reinstalling fencing around the U.S. Capitol as Washington prepares for planned trucker protests.

The fencing was previously installed after supporters of former President Donald Trump rampaged through the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in a failed effort to block Congress from formally certifying his 2020 election loss to Biden. It was removed last July. 

Authorities have taken numerous steps to protect Biden’s State of the Union speech scheduled for Tuesday and to ‘prevent any disruption to the important work of Congress,’ U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said Sunday.  

The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to prepare for the convoys and assist with traffic control during any demonstrations.  

Earlier in the week, D.C. police nixed officers’ leave this past week to prepare for the seemingly numerous caravans of protesters currently headed toward the capital, sources close to the D.C. police department revealed.

The department mobilized hundreds of officers to spearhead a large response plan against the convoys. 

According to an insider close to the department, forces of 500 officers formed each day the past week to form civil disturbance units set to quell the planned demonstrations, which are set to continue into March.   

Capitol Police have also prohibited leave and time off for all its able-bodied officers.   

The planned protests come as pandemic related restrictions on Americans are starting to vanish, including in places with the strictest measures like New York City and Chicago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new coronavirus guidelines on Friday that will lift mask recommendations for 70 percent of Americans. 

After weeks of dragging their feet on changing mask orders, the CDC revised how it calculates COVID risk for each county. Instead of only counting cases, the agency will now heavily weigh hospitalization rate and hospital capacity in each U.S. county. 

Previously, 95 percent of U.S. counties, containing nearly every resident of the U.S., were considered to live in an area of ‘high’ or ‘substantial’ transmission. Under the new changes, now only 37 percent of counties, containing 28 percent of Americans, are under a mask recommendation. The ‘substantial’ classification was removed, and 40 percent of counties are considered to have ‘medium’ risk, and 23 percent are at ‘low’ risk.

The CDC had been under pressure in recent weeks to remove mask recommendations due to falling cases nationwide. The agency was slow to move, though, with 49 of the 50 states – Hawaii being the outlier – setting plans to do away with face coverings even before the revised CDC guidelines. 

Vaccine mandates, possibly the most controversial COVID-related mandates, are starting to become a thing of the past as well. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday that he will soon lift vaccine checks required for many entertainment and fitness venues. Employer mandates will remain in place for the time being, though.

Masks in schools are set to become a thing of the past in New York. Gov Kathy Hochul – who had already lifted indoor mask orders earlier this month – removed the state’s school mask mandate over the weekend. The change will go into effect on March 2.

Similarly, COVID cases are reaching a low point in America as the nation begins to move on from the winter Omicron wave and the pandemic in general. The U.S. only recorded 7,464 new infections of Sunday.

 While Sunday is always a day where the U.S. records less infections than others – many local health departments are closed on the day – this is the first time less than 10,000 cases were recorded on a single day since July 11 of last year. Previous ‘small’ Sunday totals so far this year have been upwards of 70,000. 

The nation’s daily case average has fallen to as low as 66,337 per day, a 34 percent decrease over the past week, and a whopping 91 percent fall from the 800,000 case per day record reached in mid-January.