Texas activist driving to Washington, D.C. for convoy protest left stranded by truck owner
A Burkburnett man taking part in a national truck convoy protest found himself without a ride Friday.
Jeff Sandberg has been vocal in his support of the convoy on social media and was driving a rig bearing a banner covered in slogans.
“We’re just trying to show what the people who back us believe — and our own beliefs — of what our country needs to go back to,” Sandberg told the New York Times Wednesday.
By Thursday night, Sandberg was sidelined because the company he rented his truck from, Penske, shut down his truck remotely.
“Penske does not support the people’s convoy movement,” Sandberg said on a Facebook stream. “So, I’m in a situation where I’m not going to be able to continue on.”
After Canada, US truckers decided to start their own 'convoys'. What are they protesting?
Why are American truckers protesting?
The truckers’ convoy to Washington, D.C. mimics a similar convoy in Canada. The Canadian protest, which lasted nearly a month, resulted in nearly 200 arrests after truckers converged on the capital, Ottawa. The protests ended after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the nation’s Emergency Act, which gave authorities broad powers to end the protest
The primary objective of both the Canadian and U.S. protests appears to be resistance to the COVID-19 National Emergency imposed by former president Donald Trump and an end to all mandates, including vaccinations and masks.
Sandberg said the idea of an American convoy was formed among truckers on the road.
Can protests similar to the Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' happen here? They already are.
“It was one of them moments where everybody kind of came together. Before you know it there was 12 of us. It kind of brought that camaraderie back in to us, you know, like we used to have,” Sandberg told an interviewer in a streaming video.
Sandberg admitted he’s taking a risk in being part of the movement.
“There is going to be probably some downfall in this for participating. I could lose some business on this deal,” he said.
Aside from COVID-19 mandates, Sandberg said he had a lot of resentment about the truck industry and its restrictions.
“I think we should focus on the mandates that have been put on all of us and try to get out lives back to normal and get our freedoms to do what we want
The U.S. convoy, initially consisting of about 12 trucks, left Adelanto, Calif. on Wednesday with the goal of reaching Washington about March 6. Unlike their Canadian counterparts, the American truckers do not plan to swarm Washington, content instead to park in the general Beltway area.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Texan driving to D.C. for American trucker protest sidelined by owner
