Lastly, after a prayer from a pastor linked to the Church Militant, a far-right non secular web site, the convoy rolled out an hour later than scheduled and headed down I-95. It was spearheaded by a bus lined in MAGA slogans.
Nearly instantly, one of many autos within the convoy obtained misplaced, in keeping with messages posted within the Zello walkie-talkie app that the group is utilizing to speak whereas on the highway. Later, when the convoy linked as much as talk about night plans, the assembly shortly descended into an argument about the place they had been going to be staying. Even making an attempt to fulfill up at a fuel station was tough: Because of the measurement of a Buc-ee’s in South Carolina, convoy members couldn’t find one another.
Just a few hours into the journey, the lead bus pulled over onto the freeway shoulder and kicked out one of many individuals onboard, who had traveled on his personal from Washington, DC. It was unclear precisely why he was ejected, however the man, who’s a part of a bunch that protests each day in assist of individuals jailed for rioting on the Capitol on January 6, was left stranded in Florence, South Carolina, with out his pockets, in keeping with particulars mentioned on a livestream of somebody involved with the person.
All through the day, the half-dozen individuals livestreaming the convoy spent a lot of their time responding to questions from among the hundreds of individuals watching.
A lot of the questions had been concerning the conspiracy that the convoy is a “setup” by the federal authorities to “entrap patriots.” That sense of paranoia has been current within the group from the very starting, in keeping with leaks of the group’s chats on Discord: “This may find yourself loaded with trolls and feds very quickly,” one member wrote every week in the past.
Paranoia was additionally prevalent on the Telegram channels used to coordinate the convoy in several components of the nation. “I hope it’s not one other J6 lure. Individuals want to wish for discernment about this. However after 3 years of this persons are sick of it,” one member wrote, referring to the broadly debunked conspiracy that the Capitol revolt was a left-wing plan to lure Trump supporters.
On Monday, after the vehicles had began on the highway, organizers issued a press launch, claiming “teams are forming to infiltrate the convoy.” The assertion additionally claims that “nowhere on the web site does it say something concerning the convoy going to the border,” which is inaccurate, because the route for the primary convoy clearly states the ultimate vacation spot is Eagle Go.
Moreover, one of many organizers of the convoy, Pete Chambers, informed Alex Jones final week that his plan included touring to the border to hunt migrants and work with native legislation enforcement to seize them. Amongst these touring with the convoy, a number of individuals on Monday talked about going to Eagle Go. “We’re all going to the border,” one member declared on the livestream on Monday night time.
