A group of around 50 residents gathered on an I-85 overpass Friday afternoon to show support for a convoy of tractor-trailer trucks on its way to our nation's capital.
"It's not really about vaccine mandates," said Mike Collins, the Republican frontrunner for Georgia's 10th Congressional District. "It's the chipping away at your individual freedoms and your personal rights."
Collins, a fellow trucker and owner of Collins Trucking, organized the event on the Hamilton Mill Pkwy overpass.
"The men and women that are in this industry stayed out there during that pandemic," Collins explained. "They left their families, and their families were at home scared to death. It was a very, very difficult trying time for trucking."
The so-called 'freedom trucker convoy' wants to end coronavirus vaccine mandates. The group is also calling for an end to the COVID-19 emergency declaration, and they are demanding an investigation into the origins of the pandemic.
"People have to be responsible for their own health, not corporations and governments dictating what we have to do to keep ourselves healthy," said Marrybelle Hodges.
She understands that some private businesses can mandate the shot, but not the government.
"I hope that the people will awaken more to how just little bit by little bit our freedom's being stolen," Hodges said.
Participants waved American flags, and some displayed modified versions of the Revolutionary War-era "Don't Tread on Me" banner. Instead of the coiled snake, a tractor-trailer truck is front and center. The Collins campaign is selling this version.
"The government has got way too much power, and we need to take that back," said Laura Petcu; she came to the U.S. more than 30 years ago after fleeing Communism in Romania. "Whatever is going on right now brings memories of Communist Romania, and I don't like that."
Many motorists on the interstate below and the overpass showed their support for the crowd by honking their horns.
Shajan Alexander, who immigrated from India, showed his support for the truckers. "They had the courage...that many of the so-called politicians and a lot of people don't have," he said.
