Washington, Feb 18 (Agency) The US convoy of minivans, sport utility vehicles and other automobiles that took supplies including food, water, blankets and gas cards to Canadian truck drivers was only phase one of their journey, Convoy to Save America co-founder Pennie Fay told Sputnik. Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked emergency powers to crack down on anti-vaccine mandate protests. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Ottawa’s police chief said law enforcement was preparing to “take action” against the demonstrators. “This is not a one-time thing. Phase 1 of the journey was to bring supplies to truckers in Canada. Phase 2 will be freeing the truckers,” Fay said. “We drove up to the Peace Bridge in Buffalo but we were blocked. [New York Governor Kathy] Hochul blocked our progress. Everything went off without a hitch. The only hitch, as usual, was government.”
Trudeau’s order, among other things, will allow the government to freeze bank accounts of anyone linked to the protests. Fay said Trudeau’s order blocked the transfer of millions of dollars raised through GoFundMe and other sites. But Fay added that she is undeterred and will continue to support the truckers and others who are fighting for their freedom. “It’s frightening. They have put a hold on several accounts. I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know how it will affect the truckers. I understand that hackers went into one of the accounts. Was it hackers or was it the government?” she said. The Canadian truckers have so far raised almost $9 million. Last Thursday, Canada’s Superior Court of Justice issued an order to block the organizers of the Freedom Convoy 2022 and Adopt-a-Trucker from access to donations, Canada’s Globe and Mail reported. Fay said she has usually been a spectator at rallies and similar activities and certainly did not expect that she would be in the position of co-founding this organization.
“Here, I am a co-founder. Nothing I did before was to this extent,” she added. “I’m originally from New York and I’ve lived in Tennessee for the past three years. We have all these freedoms there. I had no idea I had lost so many of my freedoms. We don’t have major lockdowns like DC. This is not about vaccines. We can talk about that another day. This is about the overreach of this government, the rules, the lockdowns, the demands… we all want freedom.” Fay said she has no desire to go to Washington, DC. “I’ve seen enough of D.C. to never want to go back there, but I want to shut it down by blocking the arteries leading into the city,” she said. “What am I hoping for? I’m hoping for something more miraculous: for American unity. America is really divided by race, religion, sex, education.” Politicians drive those divides, she added. “But we have more in common than differences. I want us to unite,” Fay said. “This was a grassroots effort with American patriots. It was a collaborative effort. We all want freedom.”