Truckers traveled from Anchorage to Eagle River, Alaska, over the weekend in support of a massive truck convoy in Ottawa, Canada, to protest coronavirus vaccine mandates in order to conduct cross-border business.
More than 100 truck drivers took part in the Alaskan convoy, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
“Truck drivers and other service providers since Jan. 15 can only enter Canada if they are fully vaccinated,” the Associated Press reported. “A week later, the U.S. required vaccinations from essential non-resident travelers.”
“We have to have the shot stamps on our medical cards in order to go out of state, and we don’t want them,” Jeremy Speldrich, a truck driver with GMG General, Inc. of Anchorage,” said in the AP report. “Mandates should be our choice, whether you want the shots or not.”
AP reported that a second convoy of truckers drove from Eagle River north to the Wasilla area in a show of support of their northern brothers. And similar events were reported in Fairbanks and late last month in Juneau.
Fox News also reported on the “Alaska Freedom Convoy” in support of the Canadian “Freedom Convoy,” which is entering its second week.
Anchorage Assembly member Jamie Allard organized the U.S. protest, according to Fox News. “We want to support our truckers,” Allard told KTUU. “Without them, we’re not getting our supply. We need to get our supplies here. People need to be recognized for everything we’re doing here in our city.”
“We are taking part in the Freedom Convoy standing in solidarity with truckers in Canada and really across North America. We stand for their freedom to choose,” Kelly Tshibaka said in a video posted Sunday from the cab of a truck. Tshibaka, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, is challenging Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski in the 2022 midterms for the incumbent’s Senate seat.
“We also stand with them as they fight for their jobs, their families, and their abilities to take care of their communities. This is really about freedom,” she continued. “Freedom from people who want to be tyrants and dictate what we put into our bodies. We are against mandates from our political leaders. Political leaders shouldn’t push their way into the patient-provider relationship.”
“That’s how much we support freedom in Alaska,” Tshibaka said.
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