Who Killed The Convoy Movement, A Brutally Honest Account From A Pi**ed Off Pachyderm

By Passionate Pachyderms
In keeping with the Passionate Pachyderms commitment to always be “The Brutally Honest Elephants In Every Room” I want to be absolutely clear in disclosing that this article is based on my own experiences and perspectives as a participant within “We The Peoples Freedom Convoy” beginning the end of January 2022 and continuing through to May 20, 2022.
Unlike past articles I’ve written, most of which came easily with a clear beginning and end, I confess to having struggled with this one, sifting through all that occurred over the past five months several times, trying to find the best place to begin.
At last I decided that, in order to paint a clear picture of the chaotic, often confounding course of events, I had to begin at the beginning.
In January 2022, We all watched as our northern neighbors in Canada, came together in an attempt to fight shocking government overreach with regard to required Canadian Covid passports, vaccines, and forced mandates.
Many of these mandates and restrictions by the Canadian government became so restrictive, Canadians, especially those in the trucking industry, decided to peacefully protest them, and demand to be heard by their government.
Thousands of truckers and Canadian citizenry joined convoys in the various regions, and began making their way to Canadian capital cities in a nationwide effort to do their part, by standing against the ever increasing infringements upon their collective rights and liberties as Canadian Citizens, and as human beings.
One of these large convoys headed to the Canadian capital of Ottawa, where they surrounded the nations Parliament and other government buildings in their huge trucks, turned off the engines, began blowing deafening truck horns, setting up camp on the streets of downtown Ottawa, and for several weeks maintaining a friendly protest complete with hugs, kisses, dances, bouncy houses for the kids and hot tubs for the adults to help combat the freezing temperatures.
The Canadian Freedom Fighters refused to stop blowing their horns, disrupting business, traffic and sleep patterns of those living in the area, as well as refusing to wear masks as they were doing it.
The Convoy participants doubled down on their commitment to stay put, refusing to move or relent until the overreaching mandates ended and the Canadian Emergency Powers Act was lifted. They gained millions more supporters world wide when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, not only refused to meet with the Convoy leadership, but made matters a million times worse by calling the massively popular and hugely supported Trucker Convoy movement a “small fringe minority group making their way to Ottawa that did not represent most Canadians.”
Trudeau then compounded things further still, by leaving the Canadian capital city of Ottawa for more than a week, claiming to have suddenly been exposed to Covid, which he had already been triple vaccinated against.
Donations by the millions poured into the Convoys Go Fund Me account seemingly overnight, and showed no sign of slowing down, virtually guaranteeing a prolonged stand off between Trudeau’s Government and Convoy members who vowed to stay put months if need be to accomplish their goal.
That is, until the donations reached over ten million dollars. At that point Go Fund Me, caving to pressure from the Canadian Government, froze all of those funds, first claiming that donors would be refunded their donations, but only if they filed an online claim form officially requesting a refund. They then changed their story to, donors had only 14 days to file a claim requesting a refund, after that all funds would be donated to charities chosen by Go Fund Me.
This caused enormous blow back on GFM, who eventually agreed to just refund everyone, but not before being threatened with massive lawsuits on behalf of American donors by multiple U.S. attorney generals due to the illegality of their actions.
At that point, Give Send Go became the place to send donations, and when someone hacked into their mainframe and essentially accomplished the same thing, the resulting lack of promised funding forced many Canadian truckers into financial ruin.
But even that was by design, Trudeau and his cohorts knew full well that, without access to those funds, it was only a matter of time before the Canadian Convoy participants would be forced to pack up and go home.
But, like most tyrannical government leaders in history who just couldn’t quite leave well enough alone, that wasn’t enough for Trudeau, who by then, looked a lot more like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum because things didn’t go his way, than he did the leader of what most thought was the FREE country of Canada.
The Canadian government then followed this little trick up with freezing the bank accounts of ANYONE supporting or involved with the Convoy in any way.
They then brought in violent police squads, some of whom were on horse back, who proceeded to trample innocent elderly Canadian citizens sending them to the hospital with serious injuries, then compounding the horrific deed by lying about the circumstances in which it happened.
This was yet another major misstep, because the world witnessed it live from multiple angles thanks to the plethora of new media live streamers filming at the time.
The next step in the plan to stop the entirely peaceful protest, was to impound and without cause, do thousands in damage to those trucks, breaking windows, smashing headlights, breaking off horns, denting them with knight sticks and batons, then laughing about all of it as if it were all some hilarious joke.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for having a good time at work, but never at the cost of someone else’s rights, livelihood or property. Again this happened with cameras running, sending images of all of it out to the rest of the world in real time.
The impounded trucks were brought to salvage yards and auctions, sold without consent of the owners, and the proceeds were kept by the Government of Canada.
As the world watched all of this happening, Trudeau made yet another huge miss step.
Canadians and those in other countries have long believed Canada to be a safe haven for their financial investments.
That said, when Trudeau jumped to freezing and confiscating money in bank accounts belonging to Canadian citizens who’d NEVER ACTUALLY BROKEN ANY LAWS, but merely supported, participated in, or agreed with the Stance of the convoy, even if that participation was limited to having used a credit card to purchase a hat or T-shirt from a street vender, those people no longer believed Canadian investments and banking to be safe, and began withdrawing and transferring funds by the billions to safer financial havens.
Trudeau then panicked, immediately ending the emergency powers act in Canada in hopes doing so might stop the country from being bled financially dry.
Many Americans at the same time, came to the realization that, if Canada could and would go to such extreme jack booted lengths to control it’s people, who were peacefully assembling to protest their governments unconstitutional actions, it wasn’t a huge jump to think it could happen here as well, and many followed suit by removing their own funds from American financial institutions.
In the midst of all of this happening in Canada, Americans began wondering aloud on social media, why American truckers were not doing the same thing in support of their northern brethren, in protest of the American governments similar overreach due to Covid “jab” mandates, the American emergency powers act, in addition to ever increasing usurpation of American citizens Constitutional protections, liberties, and our God given rights to FREEDOM!
In what seemed like the very next moment, millions of Americans in unison basically shouted “Here hold my beer,” and just like that, the American Convoys to DC were born. Planning and financial backing was established, millions in cash, food, pre-paid gift cards, gas cards, blankets, pillows, and everything imaginable those joining the Convoys might need for a prolonged period of sleeping in trucks, cars, tents, campers, etc while in the Washington D.C. area in freezing temperatures, rain, ice, snow and high winds, was provided by the truck loads.
Frankly, two months later, as I stood looking over it all on the first day I arrived in Hagerstown, I recall saying to those who arrived with me, that the outpouring of support from the American people was mind blowing, it provided proof that the American people have had enough, they want this nonsense to STOP NOW!
I jumped ahead of myself there for a moment, (not terribly unusual for me as some of you know,) so lets get back to the birth and subsequent growing pains of the American Freedom Convoys.
The first upon my radar was “We The Peoples Convoy.”
Before I begin recounting my own experience within this particular organization, for those of you who are not Passionate Pachyderm members, regular readers, content contributors to our web site passionatepachyderms.com or are unfamiliar with what we do, among other things, we are a unique political action and advocacy group with well over 2.5 million members worldwide.
We do not, have not, and never will ask for, take, or accept contributions, donations, or financial support from anyone.
All of our travel, hotel, and other expenses are completely self funded.
This allows us to maintain our position as “The Brutally Honest Elephants In Every Room.”
It also provides us the freedom to become involved with and report on things as we see fit without outside influence.
We are regularly in contact with state and federal elected officials and make every attempt to work with them when ever possible, but, have zero problem calling them out and holding them accountable when needed.
We are regularly in Washington D.C., play critical roles in the organization and planning of Conservative rallies and protests of all sizes in cities and states across the country, and are committed to assisting Americans who believe they are not being heard, have been harmed by government actions, or simply need help navigating through things in hopes of achieving problem resolution.
Passionate Pachyderms has been successfully doing this for over two decades..We are on the ground and intimately aware of the evils existing within the swamp, and on both sides of the isle, and have played roles in exposing many of them through the years.
With that experience, comes the ability to quickly identify when things outwardly feel off or don’t quite pass the smell test, as well as identifying when those organizing/leading groups are, for what ever reason, not being as forthcoming, transparent, open, or honest as they perhaps could or should be.
(I apologize for the shameless plug, but it’s very difficult to describe over 20 years experience in three sentences or less.)
All of that having been said, our fist encounter with anyone playing a leadership role within The Peoples Convoy was with someone named Kam Johnson. I was given Kams contact info after having sent a message to leadership via their Facebook page offering our assistance with organization.
I sent her a brief outline of our experience, and explained I would be happy to assist them.
I was then directed to download the telegram app and go to their page on that platform. Having never heard of nor used telegram prior to that, I found the platform to be difficult to navigate, not at all user friendly, and riddled with security problems.
Once joined, I found that I was the 4,447th member of the channel which was being managed by two women, “Kris” and “Rachel” both residing in California.
I explained who had sent me and why, as well as sent them the same abbreviated Passionate Pachyderm resume’ and offered to assist them in any way I could.
The two seemed to be constantly pre-occupied with announcing how “busy they were with various conference calls” throughout the days and nights which followed, so much so, that it became curious to me why they kept announcing these calls, but then never returned to deliver information, or updates to the growing group membership.
They were also incessantly preparing for what turned out to be a gigantic influx of hundreds of thousands of new members gleamed from the Convoy Facebook pages which had been shut down on February 1, 2022 and were owned by Jeremy Johnson.
According to a NY Post article dated February 4, 2022, at that time, Facebook identified some 20 Convoy related pages with a combined membership of well over 200,000, including pages belonging to/being managed by Johnson and Brian Brase.
This was the first I’d heard Brian Brase’s name mentioned, but in the following days, we heard his name often, and saw videos of Brian briefly providing carefully chosen snippets of information, none of which answered any of the growing list of questions people were asking.
The pat answer every time people asked questions was they, “needed to keep everything secret for security reasons.” Because we’d all witnessed what had started occurring to Convoy participants in Canada, continued to watch events get worse as they unfolded, and that reasoning seemed legitimate at least for a little while.
As days passed and membership in the channel grew, (though it never experienced the explosive spike they had expected) trolls began plaguing the channel posting pornographic images incessantly day and night, creating an urgent need for administrators on the channel who could police it 24/7 deleting inappropriate material and banning those guilty of posting it from the channel.
I was asked to be one of those administrators. I of course agreed. For days at a time I was able to get only 2 or three hours sleep and the rest of the time was spent playing whack a troll on the channel.
During this time, Kris was less and less present, and Rachel became the one running things. She would come into the admin chat, demand admins follow an increasing set of guidelines, then later once the admins had implemented those guidelines, call out, belittle, embarrass, shame and berate admins for doing what she directed. In later days, in addition to this, she began exhibiting other disturbing behaviors, constantly changing how she wanted things done, and permanently banning people who were active within the group, because she “didn’t like their vibe.”
Separate State channels were created, and everyone was directed to go to the channels coinciding with the states they were located in. Admins were then selected for each state to assist members in planning their states Convoy events and overpass welcomes.
I was asked to be the lead admin for the states of Wisconsin, Virginia, and Alabama.
I very quickly got to work assisting members in coming up with event ideas, ways to get the word out, creative rally ideas, as well as fund raising plans, and planning special events for the Convoys as they passed through or stopped.
In doing this, I was banned from commenting in all of my states on four separate occasions for perceived slights. If someone mentioned anything political, they were banned, if you referred to past movements you were involved with, banned, if you didn’t agree with the way things were being done and voiced your opinion, banned.
People were dropping like flies left and right, then contacting me wondering what the hell they got banned for. When I would inquire about it with Rachel, she would admonish me for questioning her authority. The page quickly began hemorrhaging members as they became more impatient for information regarding dates, times, and routes which had been promised each day for more than 2 weeks, but were never actually forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Kris continued to reassure everyone that they were in charge, knew what was going on, and just couldn’t tell anyone anything, but continued to divulge that they were needed in meeting after virtual meeting, in addition to being some important part of the constant conference calls.
Members began taking these excuses badly. Interpreting their words to say, “we know what’s going on, but you aren’t worthy of knowing.”
This further angered many members who planned to join the Convoy as well as those who had donated in some cases, thousands of dollars.
When those members reached their boiling point, (by this time, just about everyone was reaching that point) and voiced their displeasure with the way things were going, they too were disrespected, belittled, demoralized, and embarrassed in public chat by Rachel, just before she booted them completely from the telegram platform.
In spite of the name of the group being “The Peoples Convoy” the people were allowed zero say in anything, they were regularly disregarded, and treated as if they were inconsequential. These same people would then be the very individuals this group would later return to for donations and financial support.
Below is an accounting of the course of events that happened the 5th time I was banned from the state rooms I’d been charged with being the lead admin in, it is a private message I wrote and sent to all of the hundreds of people I’d spoken to via private message in those state planning rooms;
Good morning! 2/8/22
I am sending this message because you and I have interacted in via DM, and I would like to explain my absence to you, as well as those on the WI, VA, and AL Convoy telegram pages.
I have NOT abandoned you!
The creators of the telegram Convoy channel platform chose to BAN me from it last night when I began posting an inspirational personal story, and words of wisdom about my friend and mentor, Andrew Breitbart (Of Breitbart.com) in the Wisconsin state room.
This came after my having endured days of repeated instances of being called out publicly in the Convoy admin room “CORE,” for supposedly doing or saying things they didn’t approve of as I was performing my admin duties.
The first instance stemmed from a sincere attempt to help guide state room members in planning convoy roll outs and events in their respective states.
When I stood up for all of you by conveying frustrations and growing feelings of discontent surrounding Convoy leaderships daily promises for more than 2 weeks time of, “Big announcements and information” which were never forthcoming, and as I attempted to convey to channel leaders that things like this tend to demoralize any movement, and cause distrust of leadership.
Still another incidence occurred when I was giving some of you open honest answers to questions, offered suggestions, and engaged in discourse based upon my own personal and professional experience as a political consultant, advocate, and activist, as well as an individual with 2 decades of experience planning and organizing rallies and events of all sizes in Washington D.C. and around the country, as well as for generally not being P.C. enough for their taste.
Because of this, Convoy channel founder @ Rebecka, on repeated occasions over the past 10 days, has deliberately humiliated, embarrassed, demoralized, and belittled me openly in the public forum of the Convoy Admin room “Core”, in spite of my having asked several times for the matter to be discussed privately.
Due to the the incident last night being the the 5th such occurrence, I finally had enough, defended myself, my right to be treated with respect, and not be “publicly humiliated by a bully with a newly found God complex.”
Those are the facts. I can back up each and every word with screen shots and transcripts.
I do not want misinformation being passed regarding what happened, nor do I intend to allow the stellar reputation of Passionate Pachyderms to be tarnished by rumors or false information.
We remain willing to assist any/all of you in any way we possibly can, and will remain on the Telegram platform for that reason.
We can also be reached via our web site: PassionatePachyderms.com
Facebook.com/passionatepachyderms
Twitter: @PithyPins
Discord: on the “Passionate Pachyderm Matriarch” server and “Pachy’s Place” channel
Youtube > on the “Passionate Pachyderms” channel.
Passionate Pachyderms remains committed to fighting for the Constitutional and God given rights & freedoms of all American citizens, as well as Freedom loving people worldwide.
We are steadfast in our commitment to helping all of the U.S. Convoys roll out as planned, and look forward to participating within them.
Sincerely,
Pachy
After sending the DM, I received an out pouring of support from others who had experienced similar treatment from Rebecka, and were also becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of true leadership, relentless unjustified banning of people, lack of organization, and significant lack of communication from those claiming to be in charge of things.
Within two or three days, large numbers of people including many admins continued leaving the We The Peoples Convoy platform on Telegram, going off on their own to make plans, organize their own state Convoys, fund raisers, and events supporting the Convoys collectivity.
A week later the entire “We The Peoples Convoy” Telegram platform including all of the individual state channels disappeared completely. A notice on their new, “info only” Facebook page claimed it happened due to, “security problems” that proved to be impossible to overcome.
The next time the Convoy community heard from We The peoples Convoy organizers/leadership, was just a few days later when Kris and Rebecka had disappeared from the picture entirely without explanation, never to be heard from again.
Now, Brian, Marcus, and Mike together with a group introduced as legal council, in addition to various other professionals who were brought on to help with logistics, organization and other aspects of the “We The Peoples Convoy” which was now being described by leadership as the, “largest convoy” the “official convoy” and the “main convoy” that all others would eventually merge with.
At the same time, different convoys were popping up seemingly everywhere. Some appeared to be backed with healthy amounts of funding, others were of true grassroots origin.
The confusion and lack of effective communication continued with departure dates fluctuating, routes changing to accommodate ever growing numbers of rallies and stops to collect the huge amounts of donated food, blankets, clothing, bottled water, camping equipment, gas and other gift cards.
All imaginable items which might conceivably be needed to sustain Convoy participants, the majority of whom would be camping in tents, sleeping in cars, buses, campers and trucks in freezing winter weather, for weeks or possibly months, were being happily donated by millions of Americans who support the Convoy, it’s Freedom Fighting participants, and their stated goals;
To remain in the D.C. area peacefully protesting until the Federal government drops all Covid and jab related mandates, a permanent end to the emergency powers act, and an immediate return of all Constitutionally protected, God given personal Freedoms to “We The People of the United States of America.”
Freedoms which have been illegally cast aside, ignored, usurped, and infringed upon in every way imaginable, with shocking regularity by an ever expanding list of government agencies, offices, and officials, (both elected and appointed) who were never authorized by Congress (as representatives of We The People,) nor given the authority or power to override them over the course of the past several years.
Some of the various smaller Convoys tacked on other issues they wanted attention drawn to, but the primary focus for all remained, an end to the various Covid and jab related mandates, a permanent end to the Emergency Powers Act, and a return of all constitutionally protected personal rights and freedoms.
As the various Convoy routes began being posted on numerous social media platforms, confusion continued to reign supreme, with the largest Convoys sighting “security concerns” as their reason for refusing to divulge locations of the Convoys final destinations, saying only that, the location of their final destinations would be released once the Convoys got closer to them.
One by one the Convoys began leaving their west coast starting points and making their way east to the Washington D.C. area.
As they traveled, thousands of pictures began appearing across all social media of overpasses filled with American Citizens waving flags, holding banners, and signs, and cheering as the convoys passed beneath them honking their horns in acknowledgement to the supporters.
Multiple live streamers within the Convoys took supporters and those interested by the thousands along for the ride across the country by streaming their trips live. This offered Americans the chance to virtually travel along with the Convoys, and allowed them to see portions of the country many had never been to or seen before, as well as to witness the ever growing support for the Convoys as they passed under hundreds of filled interstate overpasses, and arrived at pre planned rest and refueling stops along the way.
To be sure it was an amazing spectacle that very quickly recharged the exhausted hearts and minds of millions of Americans. Americans who were rapidly reaching the end of their patients with governments incessant Covid, and Vaccine related lies, false, twisted narratives and facts, confusing mandates, and “science” which often differed significantly from that of medical professionals and scientists not employed by various government entities and pharmaceutical companies.
The more people showed up to support the Convoys, the faster various state and federal mandates began to fall. But not all of them, and many fell only with various attached caveats and conditions which main stream media of course, conveniently neglected to mention.
I confess, I myself was brought to tears a number of times. My heart filled with pride watching and experiencing the phenomenal outpouring of support, prayers, and well wishes from millions of FREEDOM LOVING Americans. I felt hope again for the first time in a very long while, and a renewed faith in God and the American people.
Passionate Pachyderms arrived in Fredericksburg VA. 48 hours prior to the arrival of the various Convoys.
Dominion Raceway in Fredericksburg was one of the three locations listed by various Convoys as their “final stop” prior to going on to their final destination. The other two locations were Hagerstown Raceway in Hagerstown, MD and Virginia Raceway in Jamaica, VA.
After checking into our hotel and getting settled, we opted first to drive to the Virginia motor speedway in Jamaica VA, because some Convoy routes indicated a few of the smaller Convoys might be arriving as early as that evening. GPS indicated it was only around 60 miles from our hotel, and it provided us the opportunity to become familiar with the route in addition to discovering what if any community support in the area was readily apparent so we could share the info with those directed to go to that track.
When we arrived it was shortly after noon. The main gate entry was closed, two heavy chains stretched from short poles on either side of the entrance, and connecting them in the middle was a large lock. The parking lot was empty of any vehicles, and after briefly scanning the area we observed no employees, nothing on the marquee indicating the Convoy was expected, no welcome signs or Convoy banners anywhere in or around the area.
We proceeded down the Highway a sort distance looking for another entrance that might be used by employees, or perhaps maintenance workers, and located a small pole building which appeared to be used by the track. A few people were gathered there, so we pulled in, parked and approached them to find out what if anything they might know about the Convoys expected arrival later that evening.
Interestingly enough though, when we made the inquiries, they said no one was expected until late the next evening, and that they were aware of, the track was to be used only for Friday night, and everyone would be departing early the next morning. This contradicted what we’d seen on Convoy routes we’d seen posted, as well as those which were sent along with the others, but the gentlemen were unable to provide any additional information.
We would later that day learn after driving back to Fredericksburg and arriving at the Dominion track, that we were given false/erroneous information by these individuals, and that none of the Convoys would be going there due to a last minute notification that their insurance refused to cover the track or it’s owners for the event.
Once back at our hotel, we scoured the internet for anything alerting the Convoys their leaders, drivers or participants of this change, but we’re unable to find anything.
We went on to the Dominion track in Fredericksburg to offer our assistance in preparation for the Convoys arrival. There we found a group of perhaps 10-15 people who had been hired and brought in from Florida to oversee the event, volunteers, and security. At the time we didn’t know it, but this would be the only example of organization, planning, or solid leadership we would experience over the 17 days we spent with the Convoy. It was sponsored by those involved with the FREEDOM Convoys which we had chosen to become involved with rather than We The Peoples Convoy, all of whom were being directed to Hagerstown.
Those FREEDOM Convoy Contributors turned out to be THE AMERICAN TRUCKERS FREEDOM FUND which is supported by THE GREAT AMERICAN PATRIOT PROJECT (GAPP). GAPP we later discovered, is a PAC. (a 527 political action committee) This PAC prior to it’s involvement with the Convoy movement, had sightly more than $5,000. at last reporting in Jan. of 2022 contained in it’s account per the open secrets web site as of mid April 2022.
In my professional opinion, this amount was not sufficient to have paid for everything at Dominion Race Track, In fact, $5,000. was just a tiny drop in the bucket.
The American Truckers Freedom Fund is described as, “An independent fundraising platform removed from the economic limits of other platforms like Go Fund Me to assure that individual truckers receive direct assistance, food, fuel, and supplies.”
Also listed with these organizations as some sort of participant or sponsor. was an organization called, OTBA, Operation Take Back America (We will discuss this organization, it’s “leadership,” and their involvement a bit further along in this article)
As we arrived at the Dominion track, Organizers and volunteers were busy preparing for the Convoys arrival the next day. Boxes of various items were brought in that were to be put into silkscreened black canvas swag bags and passed out/given to truck drivers, and those who opted to contribute funds in support of the Convoys.
Wanting to be helpful, we volunteered to assist them after seeking and obtaining permission for my service dogs, (The Pachy Poodles, Peanut and Abby) to be in the building with us as we helped.
With the exception of one individual, who didn’t appreciate the perfume I was wearing, and complained exaggeratedly about it, the group could not have been nicer nor more appreciative of our assistance.
For about two hours we placed one T-shirt, one button, and one sticker in each of the approximately 1000 screened black bags to be given out the next day. We were then invited to join them for a V.I.P. Dinner to be held at the hotel near the track, and a concert featuring a Guns and Roses cover band that night at the track. We accepted their kind invitation and returned to our hotel to get ready.
We returned to the hotel near the track at the appointed time, and mingled with others invited to the dinner which consisted of various fruit, cheese, veggie, and dessert trays, along with pizza, sandwiches, and breadsticks from Dominos. Certainly nothing fancy or extraordinary, but much appreciated none the less.
At this point, no doubt you’re beginning to wonder why I’ve included such a detailed account of the course of events prior to the Convoys having begun arriving. Be patient, the details will become relevant shortly.
Because of the almost total lack of communication in the weeks leading up to the various U.S. Convoys to D.C. departures from the west coast, those planning events in support of the convoys in each individual state found themselves in precarious positions.
On one hand, the leaders of the three largest Convoys that the medium and smaller sized convoys would eventually join at various points along the way to D.C. were asking for public support, financial assistance and donations to help with costs of gas, food, lodging and other essentials convoy participants would need, as well as to plan on manning thousands of overpasses on interstates from one side of the country to the other, which supporters were ready and willing to do, but, on the other hand, because of the leaders/organizers refusal to divulge any pertinent logistical information such as, convoy routes, planned fuel and/or rest, rally, and overnight stops, or even dates of departure from the west coast. It was nearly impossible for supporters to confidently plan, advertise, or coordinate the very things convoy leaders said they wanted and needed.
I mean seriously, how does one put together and get the word out to supporters from one side of the country to the other about things like overpass rallies, donation drop off points, or support rallies and events, not only without main stream media coverage, but also while being heavily shadow banned and censored on social media platforms, and being unable to give the general public basic info like dates, times, and locations of those events and rallies?
To further complicate matters, (as if all of this wasn’t enough to make everyone crazy, and severely limit what might have otherwise been record breaking participation numbers,) how do those event organizers find places to store trailers full of donated items including perishable food items, things requiring refrigeration, or freezers for an undetermined length of time, determine if anyone participating within the 3 major Convoys would be willing to pick up these trailers of various sizes, deliver the goods to one of the Convoy locations in the D.C. area, then return the trailers to their rightful owners?
What about all those envelopes containing cash? How are they kept safe and accounted for? (Because remember, Go Fund Me and Give Send go were not options due to what happened in Canada.) ** Supporters were directed to give cash and/or pre paid gift cards.
Obviously, the three major convoys couldn’t possibly roll through every city, town or village in every state.
Similarly, the organizers of these events at which supporters were delivering massive amounts of food, water, and other items contained on various lists circulating around social media platforms, were left responsible for all of it getting where it was meant to go, while having no idea if any of the convoys would even come within 100 miles of their location, and if they did, whether or not the convoys could be reached and made aware that a pick up was needed, or confirm whether or not they would have room for it all.
From the outside looking in, it appeared as though the organizers/leaders of 2 of the convoys, whether intentional or not, played a key role in limiting the size, participation, and support of their own grass roots effort.
It appeared this way due to their lack of organizational planning, refusal to accept assistance, guidance, or even suggestions offered numerous times by experienced, well seasoned professionals, as well as by their refusal to communicate with would be participants, supporters, and donors.
In retrospect, this poor communication and lack of organization led to significantly lower participation rates within the convoys themselves, and in some cases, to reports of people who had worked tirelessly collecting donations, cash, and pre paid gift cards, having to drive long distances to deliver it to the convoys, only to then be left with it all waiting in parking lots and by the side of the road when the convoys didn’t realize they were there waiting, or when due to lack of space, passed them by without notification.
There were also several reports of overpass supporters being left waiting hours to greet and support the convoys in cold, rain, and snow, some until after 10:00 p.m., who then ended up going home disappointed and frustrated when convoys changed routes at the last minute without notifying anyone.
The week prior to the Convoys arrivals in the D.C. area, the Convoy who had indeed put forth significant visible efforts, funding, and prior planning, was The Southern Freedom Convoy to D.C. led by Kip Coltrin and the American Truckers Freedom Tailgate Team.
They announced that those directed to the Dominion track in Fredericksburg, VA. Should to go to their web site, register, and wait for the return confirmation email. The web site asked if you were a participant, truck driver, a volunteer, or a member of the press, and also if you were a truck driver who would be requesting reimbursement for fuel.
You were directed to fill out their form, which asked the obvious questions, full name, address, phone number, whether you were a truck driver or not etc. once the form was completed and returned you received a confirmation email back with your specific registration confirmation number. Registrants were directed to print out that confirmation email with the number, and bring it with them to Dominion for entry into the raceway.
This was a GREAT example of forward thinking prior planning. It allowed them to know how many trucks, cars, participants and supporters they could expect, which allowed them to accurately gage how much of everything they might need to prepare for and purchase. It also had the added benefit of making certain that those entering the raceway, had registered in advance, making them more likely to be legitimate participants who were authorized to be there, keeping the need for copious numbers of security personnel to a minimum.
As an event/rally/protest organizer/planner and political advocate in the D.C. area, I confess I was suitably impressed by what I initially saw planning wise. From the swag bags we’d helped assemble the day prior, and the quality of the promotional items within them, the professional stage and sound equipment brought in from Nashville TN. for the three entertainers to perform on, to the vouchers for free food and beverages, and the team hired to oversee everything. (With the possible exception of the woman playing the role of perfume nazi.) But I digress.
All together if I had to guess, the bill for everything at Dominion, conservatively speaking, including any charge for rental of the entire track, building, the things mentioned in the prior paragraph, and the entertainment, my guess would be that the bill came in at well over $150,000.
As a result, we (Passionate Pachyderms) had very high hopes for an impressive experience there.
We were asked to arrive at the Dominion track on Saturday March 6th by 7:30 a.m. to prepare for the arrival of the Convoys, its participants, and supporters. As with any event, be it a party at your home, or an event you’ve been planning for months at another location, there are always a hundred things needing to be seen to, arranged, set up etc. This event was no different.
Those who have ever spent time at a race track know that they are typically laid out over a large swath of land, and the walk from the front gate to the main building is often quite a hike, usually with nothing but parking lots in between. The Dominion track was no different.
The main building is good sized, modern, well cared for, and is three full stories high. One the first floor, at the main entrance was the box office, and security office, and the large indoor event facility we’d all been invited to the night before to see the Guns and Roses Cover band.
The second floor was a beautifully done restaurant area with walls of glass that opened up accordion style for full views of the track and spectator stands below, an out door patio area where several picnic tables awaited those wishing to dine or enjoy the adult beverages purchased and obtained at the large fully appointed sports bar adjoining the restaurant.
Off to the side was a well stocked racing memorabilia store with various sweat shirts, hoodies, t-shirts, as well as assorted other items. Again everything was meticulously clean, painted, and decorated in a way which screamed “RACING,” something I personally found very cool, having spent my early childhood years at local Wisconsin race tracks with my father, (who drove the cars) as well as cuisines and uncles (who built and fixed them). Those tracks of my childhood were NOTHING like this one though!
I’m admittedly dating myself here, but in the early 70’s race tracks didn’t have anything close to the sophistication of Dominion, and as an adult having been to NASCAR races at Bristol, Charlotte, Daytona and Great Lakes, I can tell you that the building and grounds around Dominion were definitely impressive for the size track found there.
On the third floor of the building, one end had several offices all facing toward the track with huge windows and unobstructed track views. A bit further down the hall were a press box, several other specially designated box sized rooms, and at the end, a large open gathering room, again with huge windows that slide open allowing the sounds of the track, the view, and the weather to flood in. I remember thinking to myself as we entered this large area to meet with those directing events at the track that day, The designer of this building knew exactly what they were doing when they built it, focusing on the reason it existed, and maximizing every inch for the enjoyment of the sport of RACING!
Our plan was to offer our assistance as volunteers from our arrival at 7:30a.m. Until around 2 or 3p.m. At which point we would switch hats and go into press mode as the convoys began arriving, thus killing two birds with one stone.
We were initially dispatched to the front gate and charged with checking registration codes of those entering, handing out the swag bags we’d put together the day before to the truck drivers, and directing vendors and other support people where to go.
I was handed a walkie talkie to communicate with others scattered around the track property in various areas, we stopped at my truck parked near the building, picked up the
Pachy Poodles, their Poodle Porsche (stroller) and made our way out to the main gate where we’d been told, we would be checking folks in.
Once there, we discovered a track employee, her three children, and another individual inside the gate shack making it impossible for us to take up the positions we’d been directed to. We had specifically been assigned that duty the day before due to my health limitations, and the need for me to keep my service dogs with me at all times.
With the shack occupied, it’s occupants determined to stay put enjoying a front row seat for all the action, and no interest in making the long walk back to the main building to be reassigned, it became obvious to me, that remaining there standing outside the shack, or walking and standing around moving vehicles with two small service dogs in tow was just too dangerous for all of us.
Alternatively, after checking with those in charge, I was asked to assist them in overseeing things and for the most part, ended up spending several hours walking from one end of the track to the other checking on other volunteers, as well as from the main building out to the gate and back resolving various issues as they came up.
During this time, relatively few Convoy participants arrived. It was mainly track employees, volunteers and vendors coming and going.
By 2:00 p.m. the time we expected large convoys to begin arriving, everything was as prepared as possible and those at the track were all in wait mode.
The minutes ticked by into hours of waiting, and still none of the expected convoys were arriving. The voices over the walkie talkies were becoming more concerned, and several calls were being made via Zello and other modes in attempts to reach those known to be leading the various convoys, but little if any information was forthcoming.
The musicians scheduled to begin at 4:00, (because the convoys were supposed to have begun arriving at 2) had no alternative but to begin their respective sets on time, playing to a crowd of less than 100 people.
By 5:00p.m. Still no convoys had arrived, and the voices on the radios were changing quickly from curious, to concerned, and by this time, frustration could be heard in the voices of those speaking.
By 6:30 those frustrated voices got some relief when Kip Coltrin’s convoy reported being 20 minutes from the track, and at 7:15 when the small convoy pulled into the Dominican gate at last, they were greeted by hoots and cheers from exhausted volunteers, organizers, vendors, and supporters alike.
As many of us tried in vein to find out where the remaining convoys were and when they expected to arrive, we began to hear a number of different rumors. Primarily though, we heard unconfirmed reports of someone claiming to be speaking for the organizers, was engaged in misdirecting convoys expected at Dominion, to drive an additional 2.5 hours to the track in Hagerstown.
We would later learn that a number of very large convoys expected at Dominion had been directed to pull over to the side of the various interstates and highways they were on, and wait while this same individual attempted to reach someone who could direct them on where they were supposed to go.
This individual was also the one responsible for telling people directly, as well as advertising via email postcards that among those expected to be in attendance and entertaining the crowd were none other than Ted Nugent, Kidd Rock, and others.
According to several truckers who were among those told to pull over and wait, they were left on the side of the roads with hundreds of trucks and cars, some for as much as 6 hours while repeated attempts to reach the organizers were ignored, and the individual who told them to wait dodged their calls.
When I spoke to these individuals at Hagerstown a few days later, and asked if they knew who the person was that misdirected Convoys originally bound for Dominion up to Hagerstown, and who it was that told others to simply pull over to the side of the road, then kept them there waiting for hours, one familiar female’s name was repeatedly mentioned.
I confess, I struggled with the decision of whether or not to identify the name of this individual in this article for a number of reasons which will become obvious the further we go into it, in the end, I decided that those who have encountered this person, wandered into one of her various schemes, legally questionable activities, fallen prey to her many lies and half truths told to convince unsuspecting convoy participants and supporters that she was/is in some capacity known to, or pretending to help, know exactly who I am referring to, and you should to.
Renee Harrington of Houston, Texas.
Renee goes by a handful of different screen names, identities, and claims a number of different professions, while implying she is associated with still others. The names as well as her stated, or implied “professional capacities” tend to change the moment she’s once again identified, or called out. Renee, among others involved with her, also claim ownership/leadership of the afore mentioned OTBA Operation Take Back America. None of us know for certain what her motives are for doing what she has.
Based upon my dealings with her, the number of others who have also encountered her deceptive, manipulative nature and the resulting unpleasantness that tends to follow, I decided to just tell y’all what happened, and let you decide on the content of her character yourselves.
As if misdirecting convoys to the wrong track, leaving others sitting for hours on shoulders of busy interstates, and costing those who organized and paid for everything at the Dominion track hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result, when expected convoys never showed up wasn’t enough, we would later learn these weren’t the only nefarious games she was engaged in playing.
After spending over 15 hours at the track, we, (The Passionate Pachyderms Digital Media Team) finally decided around 11:30 p.m. we’d had enough, and reluctantly returned to our hotel for some much needed rest. It was our hope that for everyone’s sake, the missing convoys would make it to the track at some point during the night, and we would catch up with them the following morning when we returned.
Around 2:00 a.m. the morning of March 7th, our phones began blowing up. Unable to ignore the constant vibrations of them, I finally turned my sound on to hear the excited screams and reports, as well as the wonderful sound of honking truck horns as a large convoy finally arrived with over 200 vehicles. Honestly, we were more than a little tempted to get up, get dressed and head back to the track, but decided it was a better idea for everyone to get some much needed sleep.
We were up with the sun the next day, and headed back to the track when we were contacted by a group of people on zello, and told they were all lining up to Convoy to Hagerstown. This was something that had apparently been decided upon in the middle of the night with only a handful of people privy to the discussion, and those who wanted nothing to due with The Peoples Convoy were beyond angry. Many had in fact been so angry they packed up and left the Convoy all together.
The organizers still were refusing to tell anyone where the “final destination” was going to be, so I decided at that point, we were not checking out of our hotel, heading another 2.5 hours north, only to then be told, opps we’re all heading back to Virginia and what was to be the location of our final destination.
I turned my truck and the rest of our group around, and began heading back to our hotel.
As I was doing so, we got a call from a group of 8 people who were staying in a hotel just up the street from ours. Higher 420 was among this group. It seemed one of their vehicles had broken down, four of the 8 were attempting to fix it, one had no transportation at all and was depending upon the generosity of others, another was just sticking with the group and two were among those so disgusted by the lack of organization, leadership, and lack of transparency regarding a significant amount of cash donations having reportedly gone missing from one of the Convoys, that they were “DONE” and heading back home.
We caught up with this group and updated them on the fact that the Dominion people were heading to Hagerstown as we spoke. None in the group had any interest in going to Hagerstown, and a few including myself, briefly considered just packing up and going home because we wanted nothing to do with The Peoples Convoy, their poor prior planning and communication, lack of organization, and inept inexperienced leadership abilities. Even if they had wanted to head to Hagerstown, none of them had been reimbursed for the hundreds of dollars in gas they’ed already put out, and didn’t have the funds to fill their gas tanks again and risk not being reimbursed again.
These folks felt they’ed been abandoned by the Convoy that just took off to Hagerstown leaving all of them behind without a concern or a phone call to check on them, ask if they needed additional help, and certainly without having been reimbursed for their expenses as promised.
**NOTE To be clear, Passionate Pachyderms never asked for, expected, nor received any donated funds, food, meals, or any other item given in good faith by the American Patriots in support of the Convoy as a whole. It was then, and remains our belief that those items were donated for the benefit of those in need. It would have been wrong for us to take away from those most in need of help.
As we’re all standing in the parking lot of the hotel, sitting on the grass, or in our vehicles waiting for the truck to be repaired and discussing the situation as well as our options, Higher 420 and I decided to try and get in contact with the organizers to discuss Watermelon park becoming the home base destination.
He remarked when asked if he had the contact info and phone number of anyone who might be able to offer us the organizers phone numbers, or who could contact them, and have them reach out to us. This was the first time I’d heard Renees name mentioned.
Higher420 felt certain after having been conversing with Renee for several weeks prior, and her having expounded almost constantly upon her supposed involvement at the Leadership level of the Convoy, that he could call her, and get the needed contact info.
When he attempted calling her, she demanded to know why we wanted the info. At this point, Higher asked me to do the speaking and take charge of things, I explained that I would be happy to do so, but only if the rest of the group had no objections.
We spoke to the rest of the group, they had no objection, in fact, they were relieved someone experienced in political advocacy, planning events, rallies, protests, as well as knowledge of Washington protocols, effective strategies for getting things done, and leading was attempting to accomplish something productive on behalf of those who were participating with the Convoy.
Because we were still in a parking lot with a broken down truck, I suggested that those not working on the truck, join us at our hotel where we had a suite large enough for everyone to meet in, or alternatively where we could make use of the large lobby area. I then explained to Renee we were moving out of the parking lot, over to our hotel, and we would call her back once that had been accomplished. This was about 11:00 a.m. EST on March 7th.
We then followed up by calling Renee, explaining the situation with the group left behind by the Convoy when they made the arbitrary decision to move to Hagerstown, and that we had found an ideal location for a Convoy home base at Watermelon park, but we needed an answer from the Organizers, as well as a commitment for funding in advance of the Convoys arrival.
I explained that we had negotiated the price down to a mere $5. per vehicle per night, but the owners would need to have an answer so they could call in employees and prepare the property to essentially open 2 months early. I did not view this as an unreasonable request, nor did I feel getting payment in advance for at least a week or two at a time for use of Watermelon Park was unreasonable.
I told the owners of the campground that we had not yet been to Hagerstown at that point, so we had no way of knowing with any degree of certainty just how many vehicles we were discussing. That said, I went on to say very clearly that for the purpose of planning and having a number to work with as an example ONLY, let’s just say we’re talking about 500 vehicles, (I then reiterated this number was being used for EXAMPLE ONLY, and the actual number would of course be adjusted up or down appropriately to cover the total number of actual vehicles.)
I went on to give the following example to confirm everyone was on the same page, talking about the same thing. If we have 500 vehicles, multiplied by $5. per night, this would amount to $2,500. per night, $17,500. per week. Again, this is only an example, and if there are more or less than 500 the number will be adjusted accordingly.
I explained all of this to Renee, and told her the Convoy would need to pay the owners of Watermelon Park upfront, prior to any vehicles entering, for at least the first week, the first two weeks would be even better. (At the time, based upon what I had been seeing and hearing, I did not feel confident that Convoy finances were being appropriately managed, and I wanted the owners of Watermelon Park to be compensated in advance to help assure they would not be left hanging after they had been willing to do so much to help out the Convoy.) Admittedly though I did not voice or explain those concerns at the time.
All of the calls back and forth were on speaker phone from beginning to end. Initially, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, but I felt very strongly that Renee could not be trusted, that all possible precautions needed to be taken regarding any communications with her. Later, I would discover my intuition was right on the mark. (It typically is)
Renee kept giving us excuses as to why we could not get direct contact info for the organizers, initially we set a time of 12:45p.m. EST for a conference call she claimed to be able to set up between herself, Brian, Marcus, Mike and Kip regarding Watermelon Park. The time came and went, we called her back, and she claimed Brian, and Kip were on a conference call and she rescheduled for 1:30 p.m. When 1:30 came and we called her, she claimed she was on the phone with Brian and he didn’t have time to speak to us. I explained that there were a group of people who had no where to go and no money to get there sitting with me, who really would love to know where they are going to be sleeping that night.
Additionally, the owners of Water Melon Park were awaiting an answer, and her refusal to give us the direct contact info, and excuses as to why she wasn’t able to make conference calls happen with the organizers were beginning to try my patience, and waste my time. To light a fire under her, I explained that up to that point I had been helping out, doing my part as a Convoy participant, since this sort of thing is what I do for a living. But, I advised her, that there was a limit to my patience, and generosity, and at 3:00 I was done giving my time away.
I advised her of my going hourly rate and said, “I REALLY DO NOT want to have to invoice the Convoy for my time as that money needs to be spent on other things, but I will NOT play games Renee, these people need answers about what they are supposed to do, where they are supposed to get the reimbursement funds they were promised so they can determine if they are staying or going home, and in the mean time, where they are supposed to sleep tonight. The Watermelon Park people need an answer, and if we didn’t have answers, as their advocate, I’d have no other option but to start charging the Convoy for my time.”
There were at least four more calls to and from Renee, more scheduled organizer conference call appointment times came and went with nothing but excuses from her. Each time she swore she was on a call with the various organizers and others, but it was quite clear that was not the case. Each time she spoke with Higher420 or myself, she attempted to “manage and gas light us” which only served to annoy me and question her assertions more and more.
Finally with everyone sitting around a table in the lobby, after our having paid for everyones dinner, at 7:30 p.m. a final call was placed. Each of the individuals at the table were encouraged to voice their feelings and concerns as well as ask their questions, she engaged in gas lighting and managing each and every person, going around in circles, making claims of abilities it was clear she didn’t have.
At one point, she claimed that she was working to find the money to pay Watermelon park, and I said, what do you mean you have to find the money to pay them? Find it where? Get it from who? Her response was, “From people like Mike Lindel.” To which my response was, Why doesn’t the Convoy have the funds to cover the cost of Water Melon Park? Where did all the money people have been donating go? It sure as hell didn’t go toward paying for food, water, or other needed supplies because the Convoy is saying they have had more than enough of all that donated. So tell me Renee, where is all of this money going if it isn’t being spent to support those actually participating in the Convoy?
Why are we being told the organizers, who have an expensive rented bus to stay in, are renting and staying in hotel rooms? Is that where the money I donated and tens of thousands of others have donated going? To pay for hotel rooms for the organizers while their bus sits empty, and these people sitting here have no where to stay or sleep tonight?
Her response was to say she was sure that wasn’t the case, but I confess at that point, as she continued her handling and managing attempts, all I could hear when she opened her mouth was the teacher from Charlie Brown saying, mawah mawah mawah, mawah mawah mawah mawah.
Around 9:00 p.m. est, I couldn’t take anymore, and the others had given up as well. We weren’t getting anywhere, I told her as much, and that I didn’t appreciate her having wasted an entire day of our time, and therefor, I was done. I hung up the phone.
She tried to call back four or five times to convey to me how much she didn’t appreciate being hung up on, and texted as much when I refused to answer because I was too busy finding someone willing to step up and pay for two hotel rooms for those who had no where else to stay for the night. (Special thanks to Tennessee Dreamer who not only stepped up that night, but did so on several others as well.)
At no point, EVER had ANYONE mentioned that organizers still did not have a final destination secured, nor had they even bothered looking for one. They apparently did not consider informing any of the Convoy participants, who were regularly asking about the location of final destination during the trip across the country, but were consistently being told, “We’re not releasing that information due to security reasons.”
Most of these participants were left no alternative but to sleep in cars, trucks, and tents on the still frozen ground at the Hagerstown VA. Race track. Many commenting later that, had they been told they might end up spending the next nearly two months sleeping on frozen ground, cement and gravel in below freezing temps, high winds, snow and rain storms, without indoor plumbing, showers, electricity, or water, they’ed have given their participation in the Convoy a second thought.
The ONLY location mentioned and checked out by anyone as a final destination was Watermelon Park, a truly stunning huge resort, campground, and music venue just 32 minutes from the D.C. beltway.
I had been contacted by Higher420 about this location prior to the Convoy starting out, and, living in Virginia myself, had personally checked it out and found it to be an ideal place for the Convoy home base. I’d spoken to the amazing owners who were ready, willing, and excited to become a part of the Convoy movement by helping us out.
In fact they were so motivated to help out the Convoy that they called in additional contractors to finish up a few projects early so they would be ready if/when we arrived.
Now, let me tell y’all about Watermelon Park, this is no average run of the mill campground.
Watermelon park is 38 acres of grassy level camp sites, each with fire pits. 90 RV sites with electric and water, a camp store, indoor sanitation facilities with running water and flush toilets, indoor shower facilities, electrical hook ups, paved roads, and best of all, in addition to all of this, they were offering us use of an additional 298 acres of level farmland for overflow parking.
All of this directly on the peaceful banks of the Shenandoah River!!
We were being offered for the most part, use of the entire facility from March 7th until the last weekend in May when they opened for their regular season.
When I spoke to them again on the morning of March 7th, and confirmed they were still willing to welcome the entire Convoy, they even decided to drop the already ridiculously low discounted rate per vehicle from $10. per night to just $5. per night per vehicle! (The normal rate for one night of camping at Watermelon park is over $120. which they have no problem selling out from May to October.)
To be clear, because I personally do NOT camp for various reasons including significant health related issues, we were not among those who camped out in Fredericksburg, VA. at the Dominion raceway track on March 6th, nor the following days in Hagerstown, MD. at the track there.
Instead, my Passionate Pachyderms Digital Media Group support crew and I stayed at a hotel less than 5 miles from the track. Each day we were up between 5:00 and 6:30 a.m. and on our way to the track by 7:30 a.m. where we remained until late each night.
Passionate Pachyderms gave a significant financial contribution early on in support of the U.S. convoys to D.C. and those participating in them as did many of our herd members across the country. Those contributions were given in support of all of the Convoys and their respective participants.
To be clear, those funds were NEVER intended to be in support of participants or leadership of any one specific group over another, but rather were intended to help ALL those participating regardless of which Convoy they identified as being with.
Passionate Pachyderms has spoken with hundreds of Americans over the course of the past few months. Of those who said they’d made financial contributions in support of the convoys to D.C. and their participants, literally all believed the contributed funds were going to support the needs of all convoys and participants as a whole.
No one remarked that they’d contributed funds intending them to go to, or be used solely in support of one Convoy group or another. Based on this information, we believe it’s safe to assume most Americans contributing did so with similar intentions.
I mention all of this because understanding the background, and what was going on there is critical to understanding the how and why of the way things turned out in the end.
That having been said, without a centralized system for all donations to be deposited into, for funds to be distributed out of, and clear parameters regarding what the funds could or should be used for, in defense of those handling the contributions and reimbursements, this task must have been one of the more difficult ones to have accomplished.
Again, this was an aspect of things within the Convoy movement which required significant prior thought, planning, and communication, none of which appeared to have been done.
Over the following three weeks in Hagerstown with more participants leaving each day, and more complaints coming from those still there about the fact that we still had no where to move to, organizers were doing nothing to make anything happen, and with fuel shooting up to well over $4.00 a gallon, the daily circling of the beltway was a ridiculously stupid waste of money, effort and time.
Yet when alternatives were presented, organizers immediately shot them down, refusing to even discuss them.
People were getting sick from something that had been sprayed on the fire wood which caused it to smoke heavily like a burning tire, forcing people to breathe it in night and day if they wanted to keep warm.
At every point, if ANYONE raised a legitimate concern, voiced an alternative perspective, or in any way disagreed with the organizers, they were set upon by security thugs and tossed out in the middle of the night.
People wanted to know where the money was going, why we couldn’t move to WaterMelon park, or another more appropriate venue with basic facilities. Why weren’t we spending our days actually doing things to make a difference with the issues we were there to address and protest. Crickets, demoralization, and public ridicule was what they got in return.
Higher, Tennessee and I tried over and over and over again to meet with the organizers over the three weeks I was there, each time having them set appointment times they then did not bother to show up for.
The final straw for me though was when, after I had left and gone home for three days, another appointment time was set, this meant me driving back to Maryland AGAIN, more hotel bills and costs associated with my not being at home, but I was willing to do it because those still living at the track in Maryland desperately needed to get off the gravel, have decent sanitation facilities, power, and the ability to shower daily. We made the trip back up there for a meeting after the evening pow wow, and while we were there, prepared and ready for the 5th time, we were told, opps sorry, something came up.
I was then told Marcus was going to check out Water Melon Park the next day, and asked that I call to let the owners know he would be visiting. I made the call, set it all up, but Marcus never bothered to show, call and cancel with the owners directly, or call, text, send smoke signals, or walk his rear end over to where we were located at the track literally the entire day, and say, “Hey Pachy, I’m not going to make it to Water Melon Park, can you let them know?” As a result, the owners wasted their entire Saturday waiting on someone who didn’t have enough respect, or common courtesy to make a 15 second phone call to cancel.
Finally 4 days later, I was contacted by the owners of the park who had reached their breaking point, and told me the deal was off.
By the time the Convoy faced having to leave the track in Hagerstown, they were unable to find a suitable facility in Virginia or Maryland willing to allow them to relocate to. Further, because they had not only burned the solid bridge I’d built for them with the owners of Watermelon park, but they’ed blown it up, and bulldozed it too, so they were never going to be welcome there again.
These are the types of things that happened over and over again constantly with the Convoy. Each day was a brand new set of fires that had to be put out. Fires which, had their been adequate proper leadership and organization from the beginning, could have easily been avoided.
If participants hadn’t been tasked with putting out those fires all day every day, they would have had the time and inclination to do things that actually mattered and might have made a difference on behalf of the movement.
Seeing all of this happen live and in color, broke my heart and crushed my soul to a point that it has taken me 2 months to have the stomach to write about it.
Because I am a professional political advocate and activist, I understand that due entirely to the sins, lack of effective leadership organization, communication, and proper stewardship of financial donations of the We The People Convoy, the next time someone has a brilliant idea and attempts to engage the country and get them involved, they’ll likely fail.
Americans will remember the time they stepped up for the Convoy and recall that it failed miserably due to their complete and total lack of experienced organizers, advocates and effective leaders. They’ll recall how the money they worked hard for and donated was misused, wasted on beltway laps, fancy buses for those who didn’t need or deserve them, hotel rooms for organizers as the fancy buses sat empty, and while participants were shivering and sick in the wet cold snow and rain.
Supposed “leaders” and “organizers” who repeatedly denied knowing people like Renee, who claimed to be speaking for, and doing things with their consent or on their behalf, who then accessed data bases containing the personal information of those who signed up to participate, then nefariously using that information to do unauthorized, completely unwarranted background, credit, criminal, and other checks on those they don’t like, then attempt to use that information to extort people into silence.
Well guess what folks, if someone like Renee will do this to me, (and she in fact did do it to me) for absolutely no reason other than her own perverse pleasure and twisted sense of inflated importance, who else might she be doing it to? What might she be attempting to extort out of them? Money? Bad deeds? Silence?
She never expected me to laugh at her hysterically, and then tell the world about my 4 year old reduced speeding ticket for going 80 in a 55 on a bright sunny day in the middle of nowheresville North Carolina, and my 30 year old bankruptcy after a divorce. Hardly anything I might be desperate to keep silent, but my concern wasn’t and isn’t for me. My concern is for those who might have something to hide, or something in their past they aren’t proud of and have worked hard to recover from.
What kind of degenerate does this sort of thing, all the while screaming they are on the side of Conservatives, God, doing the right thing, the Convoy, and those who support it?
What kind of leadership continues to associate with a person like that even once their actions have been reported to federal marshals and police? Is that the type leadership you want? If so, welcome to the Biden administration, they’re glad you’ve decided to join them.
The repeated continuous dictator like actions of those claiming organizational and leadership roles within the Convoy movement, their complete lack of transparency, their constant refusal to communicate, (while telling us it’s for our own good, or for security reasons) they decline telling us the truth because of how it might make them look, or how we might hold them accountable….
Gee don’t look now folks, but the U.S. Government and the Biden administration have taken charge of the Convoy!! I mean seriously, both are behaving the same way, ignoring constitutional rights, dictating who can speak and who can’t, deciding to force people to sleep in tents on cement and gravel in unhealthy conditions because they don’t want to spend the money on a decent place for the many, they’ed rather keep it and spend it on grand places and things for themselves. Prove me wrong if you can, I dare you.
Something that was so inspirational, filled so many with hope, and moved so many to finally stand up and step up could have literally changed this country. It could have ignited a flame impossible to put out.
It was that big, that supported, and that well received. But a handful of people more concerned for themselves than for those who participated, and sacrificed in order to support the just and worthy cause they believed in, were just too blind to see.
That handful, so filled with their own delusions of grander, illusions of power and control, not only screwed this movement up, they’ve screwed things up for every movement to come making it significantly more difficult to gain the kind of attention, support, money or assistance needed to make a difference, or stand up for themselves, their families, their children, and their country.
So, Convoy organizers, take a bow! Straighten your belt buckles, and go right ahead and wallow in the knowledge that you managed to screw the pooch so completely, hell will no doubt freeze over before the American public will stand up, step up, rise up and take back their rights, and their country.
Let’s give them all a hand folks, they couldn’t have done a better job of breaking the spirits of the few American Patriots still willing to do more than sit on their computers and phones complaining about everything, but refusing to do anything to stop it. If they’ed have been Biden appointees, CDC workers, WHO board members, or FBI agents sent to silence the voices of parents at school board meetings, they couldn’t have done more to insure that it won’t be long before all of our rights vanish and there is nothing left to do but wish we’d have done something to stop it while we still had the chance to.
I am Passionate Pachyderms, The brutally honest Elephant in every room, and I tell it like it is!
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