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‘People’s Convoy’ Passes Through Ohio Valley on Way to Washington, D.C.

Photo by Derek Redd

TRIADELPHIA -- As Jeanene Krupa waited along the Interstate 70 overpass at The Highlands on Friday, she had a feeling of anticipation normally reserved for milestone events.

"I'm a hunter," she said. "And last night felt like the night before the first day of hunting season. I couldn't sleep."

Others compared Friday's anticipation to the night before Christmas. Instead of waiting for Santa Claus and the gifts he would bring, the more than 100 people standing along the overpass were waiting for a long line of tractor trailers and other vehicles to climb up the hill.

Those vehicles were part of the "People's Convoy," a group made up of truckers and their supporters who have been driving from California to Washington D.C. as a form of protest of what they consider overreaching COVID-19 mandates.

According to the group's website, it is asking for all COVID mandates to end and that the state of emergency be lifted so that American workers can move in a free and unrestricted manner.

Krupa said her interest was sparked by the trucker protests in Canada and when she heard the convoy was coming together in the United States, she followed it intently from its launch in California. On Friday, she came down from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, to watch the procession head east.

As the trucks drove past around noon, the throng gathered on the overpass waved to the drivers and waved American flags. A handful of flags supporting former president Donald Trump and chastising current President Joe Biden were among those held aloft, but the Stars and Stripes were predominant.

Krupa said the excitement she felt following the convoy as it crossed the country did not dissipate as she watched the trucks drive past.

"Just watching all the things, all the chats, all the livestreaming, the things that are going on," she said. "It's so peaceful. Everyone's smiling again. There are no more masks and we're all just excited to be a part of it."

Freedom from COVID mandates was the main reason that people throughout the Ohio Valley turned out to watch the convoy roll by. Judy McManus of Belmont was one of the first to take a spot on the Plainfield Road overpass near Belmont, arriving just after 8 a.m. She said her son, Chip, is a truck driver in Texas, which is what prompted her to attend. Though her son is not a part of the convoy, she said she wanted to support the truck drivers in what they are working toward.

"I support this 100%," she said, adding that she is against the mandates.

McManus said the Shekinah Christian Church, where she is a parishioner, cooked and delivered enough food for 500 of the convoy participants and supporters while they were in Cambridge Thursday night.

Tanya McIntire of Belmont said she has family and friends who are truck drivers. She said she came to the rally to show support and solidarity with the truck drivers and what they stand for.

"They move the nation,'' she said, adding that a friend of hers joined the convoy in Indiana and has been driving along with it for the past couple days.

McIntire said she is against the mask and vaccine mandates and hopes they will end sooner than later.

"Enough is enough. A suggestion is one thing but a mandate is another. No one in a free world wants to be told what to do," she added.

Tonia Wood of Dallas, West Virginia, was among those watching along at The Highlands. She also had been following the convoy's path across the country and appreciated an opportunity to peacefully assemble and offer support.

"This convoy is about freedom, nothing else," she said. "If we want to get the vaccine, fine. If we don't, fine. If we want to wear a mask, fine. If we don't, fine."

In late February, the Centers for Disease Control issued new relaxed masking guidelines, allowing most people to remove masks indoors as long as COVID-19 hospitalizations remained low in their communities. In his State of the Union speech Tuesday, Biden introduced a "test to treat" initiative. That initiative would create one-stop sites where people would be treated immediately with antiviral pills and other treatments.

The convoy was scheduled to stop in Hagerstown, Maryland, Friday night before continuing its journey to Washington D.C.