Despite initial preparations, a protest in Washington, D.C., attracted a smaller-than-expected crowd after a trucker convoy disbanded on Saturday at its second stop hundreds of miles away.
The “Stage of Freedom” event held on the National Mall got off to a slow start on Tuesday, as only a handful of protesters showed up at the noon start time. Members of the media and police officers appeared to outnumber them. By 7 p.m., a few dozen people had reportedly filtered in and out throughout the demonstration.
“I was trying to get people here because I wanted to see with my own eyes, I wanted to see what people are all about,” Kyle Sefcik, one of the organizers of the protest who lives in Maryland, said to the crowd. “As you see, with the millions of hits and the hundreds of thousands of people who are behind the movement, there’s still not people showing up and being about it.”
The rally is part of the “Freedom Convoy USA” that left from San Francisco on Friday to arrive in D.C. by Tuesday to protest COVID-19 restrictions — arriving on the day the district’s mask mandate was lifted and two weeks after the vaccine mandate for indoor businesses expired. Mandates across the country have also been lifted over the previous weeks, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced loosened guidelines regarding mask-wearing.
FIRST TRUCKER CONVOY TO DC FIZZLES WITH SMALL CREW AND TRAFFIC WOES
However, by the time the group reached Las Vegas early Saturday with only five trucks, the organizers announced they would nix plans and encouraged truckers to join other convoys heading to the nation’s capital.
The trucker protest by the Washington Monument is off to a slow and cold start. As of now, only 10 folks with the “Stage of Freedom” event are here. More press and police than rally-goers. pic.twitter.com/x85xEvzlNn
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) March 1, 2022
Sefcik initially hoped to attract a large crowd to the rally, submitting a permit on Feb. 18 that stated an estimated attendance of “hopefully 1,000 [to] 3,000.” However, by Monday, he resubmitted a permit that brought the number down to a maximum of 500 people.
The group was meant to gather near the Washington Monument just hours before President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The rally is part of a larger movement of trucker convoys coming to the capital throughout the week.
Although he said he felt slightly disappointed at the underwhelming attendance and his investment — “I mean, I lost money setting all this up, guys,” he said — Sefcik said it was worth it to get his message out there.
“Where are the trucks?” a speaker asks (answer: the organizers’ convoy fell apart in Las Vegas). Video by @EvyMages pic.twitter.com/y6Moopjwlb
— Andrew Beaujon (@abeaujon) March 1, 2022
“It didn’t matter if one person showed up, a million people showed up, I needed these cameras, these people watching at home to hear what I have to say,” said Sefcik, an MMA fighter and Maryland gubernatorial candidate. “Obviously, this is meant for something, I’m telling you guys the truth, I’m telling you what’s going on. I couldn’t care less if there’s one person in front of me or 1 million. I need this message shared.”
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Despite initial nationwide support for the caravans, inspired by trucker convoys in Ottawa, Canada, that disrupted traffic for weeks, the U.S. protests themselves have struggled to pick up much steam so far.
One group heading from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C., last week fizzled out before reaching the city limits after battling a late start and only a handful of protesters participating.
Other groups, such as the Freedom Convoy USA, have merged along the way to arrive at the same time as the “People’s Convoy,” which is shaping up to be the largest of the planned caravans scheduled to make it to the district on Saturday.
