Great moments in truck protests


Things have not been going well for the grandiosely titled ‘People’s Convoy’ of trucks that was supposed to bring life to a halt in the nation’s capital. They first drove all across the country to Washington DC to protest vaccine mandates or something and then hung around for a week or so at an abandoned racetrack about 50 miles north of the city. After that non-event, some of them then returned to California and decided to protest near the Oakland home of a California state assemblywoman.

But they got a hostile reception from the neighbors who were incensed at big trucks clogging up their quiet and narrow residential streets with their loud air horns blaring and told the truckers to get the hell out of there. As the trucks were leaving, they got stuck in traffic near a Safeway grocery store and a large number of people, many of them young, started purchasing eggs from the store and pelting the trucks, forcing them to flee.

The dreams of the “People’s Convoy” quickly died in the Bay Area after a critical tactical error: turning onto a street with a Safeway and a group of bored kids. 

The trucker convoy, which aimed to emulate the disruptive Canadian protests against COVID-19 restrictions, has failed spectacularly at every turn. During a few weeks of driving around Washington, D.C., the convoy was held up by a single bicyclist, and some convoy members said they were having difficulty finding places for bathroom breaks and, as a result, were forced to urinate in their pants. 

After an anemic showing in Washington, the convoy made the long drive back across the country, landing in the Bay Area this week. Since the convoy began, practically all major COVID restrictions have been lifted in the United States, so it appears it’s switched its messaging to support other conservative causes. 

On Friday afternoon, the small convoy of semitrucks, pickup trucks, minivans and other cars drove to Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ East Bay home to protest her support of an abortion rights bill. As they honked and used bullhorns in the quiet residential neighborhood, neighbors gathered to heckle them right back, yelling at the truckers to get off their street. 

Livestreams posted by convoy participants show police arriving to protect Wicks’ home, which eventually prompted the group to move on. It was here the convoy members made their mistake, driving onto busy, one-lane College Avenue on the Berkeley-Oakland border. There, slowed down by the usual Friday afternoon traffic, they were sitting ducks outside the Safeway. A large group of kids, armed with eggs purchased at the grocery store, began pelting the convoy.

“We’re fighting for your freedoms too,” one convoy participant said as eggs flew amid shouts of “get the f—k out of here” by the gathering crowd. A few ill-advised convoy drivers had their windows rolled down, resulting in eggs splattering the insides of their vehicles. Passersby watched in confusion and amusement, with some adults stopping to cheer on the kids. 

One livestreamer for the convoy begrudgingly conceded victory to the Bay Area youth. “Well, it’s convenient because there’s a Safeway right there that sells eggs,” he said on the stream.

Furious truckers then drove out of town, heading back on the highway toward their base in Sacramento. According to citizens band radio captured by the livestream audio, truckers complained about needing to wash their vehicles and seemed shocked at how poorly received they were by locals. According to Daily Beast reporter Zachary Petrizzo, the convoy also encountered setbacks the day before in San Francisco.

“The People’s Convoy made it to San Francisco and decided to try and locate Nancy Pelosi’s residence, but the planned activity of placing flags in her yard fell apart due to the group failing to come to a consensus on what home was actually Pelosi’s,” Petrizzo tweeted.

In the aftermath of its defeat at the Rockridge Safeway, the convoy has returned to Sacramento Raceway Park. It’s unclear what its future plans are, but according to its website, it has raised nearly $1.9 million in donations.

As you can see, it was quite an epic display of egg warfare, in which all manner of people, young and old, Black and white, men and women, joined in

The comments to the video are a hoot.

You can read more about the egg assault here.

The so-called “People’s Convoy” — truckers who are still making people’s lives miserable as they “protest” conspiracy theories while disrupting cities across the country — just got egged in Oakland, California while stuck in traffic. And it wasn’t just a dozen eggs. Or even a jumbo 18-pack egg-toss. This was all out war between a large crowd of egg-armed Oakland residents — including hordes of teens (they show up toward the end of the video) — and the unwanted drivers.

For background not seen in the video, the truckers first barreled into the Bay Area hoping to reach Nancy Pelosi’s house, where they planned on littering her lawn with U.S. flags. But the gentlemen couldn’t figure out which house was hers, and switched to a last-minute plan B: to harass Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) “over an abortion-related bill,” according to The Sacramento Bee.

Now the truckers feel unappreciated and their feelings are hurt because they are such sensitive souls.

When the convoy got stuck in traffic outside an Oakland Safeway, however, a group of residents began throwing eggs at the stalled vehicles, shouting “get the fuck out of here”, according to video of the incident. Passersby partook as well, grabbing eggs and tossing them at trucks scrawled with phrases such as “Let’s go Brandon”, a coded term among Trump supporters to insult Joe Biden, as they drove by. Many of those throwing eggs at the group were kids who cheered each other on and then fled after running out of eggs.

Some jumped out of their vehicles and engaged in heated confrontations with those throwing eggs.

“We’re fighting for your freedoms too,” a protester yelled at the kids, the SF Gate reported.

The group fled back to their base in Sacramento, complaining about their icy reception and dirty vehicles.

These truckers seem to not be operating with a full tank of gas, if you know what I mean. They went to one of the most liberal districts in the US to stage their pro-Trump, anti-vaccine, anti-choice nutty protest and thought that they would be welcomed with open arms? To add insult to injury, this being Oakland, the eggs thrown at them were likely to be organic ones laid by free-range chickens under humane conditions, all things they despise.

Comments

  1. Holms says

    It’s constantly amazing how easy it is to hurt the feelings of the “fuck your feelings” crowd.

  2. StonedRanger says

    Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Thanks for that video, I needed a good laugh.

  3. says

    Yup, those quotes are gold. Commenter Buttercups True Love:

    “I think it’s downright neighborly to welcome the convoy by offering them something to eat.”

    You know they’re on the losing side when even the cops do nothing about people throwing eggs at them.

  4. says

    “We’re fighting for your freedoms too,” a protester yelled at the kids, the SF Gate reported.

    Including people’s freedom to throw eggs as self-expression.
    Back in the enlightenment it would have been chamber pots. Cheer up, truckers!

  5. jrkrideau says

    Our convoy in Ottawa was much better organized. We had a bouncy castle for the kids, a stage, portapotties (though this may have been thanks to the Ottawa Police), a jacuzzi, etc. We did lack actual truckers but the right-wing nuts and fundamentalist preachers heroically filled the breach. They also are filling the benches in court.

  6. steve oberski says

    As our Ottawa truckers wend their way through the criminal justice system they are also faced with a massive $300 million class action civil law suit.

    Already their assets have been frozen and the formidable Paul Champ and lead plaintiff Zexi Li are about to make their lives a living hell which is only just deserts.

    https://ottawaconvoyclassaction.ca/

  7. John Morales says

    They thought they’d invade and be welcomed as liberators?

    (A bit of that around)

  8. Ridana says

    That was beautiful. I loved that one asshat who thought he’d be a big man and get in that woman’s face and then realized no one was being intimidated by his posture.

  9. Mano Singham says

    Ridana @#8,

    Yes, I too was impressed, both by the way she did not flinch and the calm way she stood her ground and then proceeded to throw more eggs while he was still there, and by the other woman who joined in and said “No!”

  10. maggie says

    The Canadian Freedumb Convoy is back again this weekend in Ottawa. Only, they will be on motorcycles and are calling theirselves “Rolling Thunder.” I have no idea what they are going to protest since most Covid mandates have been lifted and vaccine passports are no longer required. Sounds like a temper tantrum by covidiots. I am sort of hoping for snow and rain.

  11. says

    “…and seemed shocked at how poorly received they were by locals.”

    It’s astounding how the popular narrative is that progressives live in a bubble but everyone ignores how much the right works on their own. That’s how so many of them genuinely believe the last presidential election was rigged because they had no idea how unpopular the former guy was. When Fox dared say that maybe the “fraud” claims were overblown, a lot of conservatives were outraged and shouted that they were going to go to Newsmax and OAN instead.
    This is also why despite the centrist pleas for dialogue, there can’t be any meaningful discussion when it’s next to impossible to find any sort of common ground on what is objective reality.

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