LEXINGTON, Va. – More than 100 trucks and vehicles rolled into Lexington Saturday afternoon as they headed to the nation’s capital to protest vaccine mandates.
Waving flags as horns honked, more than 100 people welcomed the American Freedom Convoy at the Lee Hi Travel Center. The crowd of supporters lined up along Lee Highway holding signs and thanking truckers.
Michele Schumacher traveled from Prince Edward County to support the movement and said, “I think it’s going to show that the people of this country are more united than they are allowing everybody to think.”
Charles Skoog lives in Lexington and brought his American flag to show support for the people that “carry the goods for America.”
Swarms of people rushed to the back parking lot of the travel center where members of the truck convoy will be spending the night.
Supporters did not just come with handshakes, but donations. Throughout the trip, the truck convoy has collected about 30,000 pounds of food and water from people.
Tim Zucker joined the movement in Oklahoma and is collecting supporters’ signatures on a half Canadian and half American flag.
“All these people have a voice and that’s why we are going to Washington to represent these people,” he said.
Alan Baguley, the route organizer, said he became a truck driver after losing his job in the oil field industry back in 2008. He added that truck drivers play a vital role in the nation.
“The roads are the veins,” he said. “And we are the blood that travels through the veins.”
The truck convoy plans to leave early Sunday at 6 a.m. to reach the nation’s capital to peacefully protest.
“It makes you tear up driving down the road,” Baguley said. “All this love and support. We have firefighters standing on their trucks with big old flags waving. We got tow trucks and oil drilling trucks. We are here for the people. We are their voice.”