‘Freedom Convoy’ organizer says he is ‘downright disgusted’ by media coverage of demonstrations

Canadian truckers have been protesting the country’s Covid-19 vaccine mandates for their profession by blocking the streets of Ottawa for the past two weeks.

Those who have participated in the Freedom Convoy have been deemed members of a “cult” as well as a “threat to democracy” in reports over their disagreement with the mandates.

Convoy organizers have said they are tired of being portrayed in such a negative light by media coverage of their efforts. “I’m downright disgusted by the press and the way they have covered the convoy,” said Ontario-based trucker Brigitte Belton.

Belton, who remains unvaccinated, helped organize the Freedom Convoy when the Canadian vaccine mandates banned her from crossing the border in the United States. 

The trucker added that coverage of the protest has been “totally biased” against them. Just recently, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough called the movement “a cult” as other news outlets gave the story no attention until Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly spoke out harshly against the protestors.

“Not only the American media, the Canadian media as well. They’re spinning their own narrative,” Belton said. “This isn’t a cult… The federal government, the city of Ottawa, all those organizations that are out to get us right now, maybe that’s the cult.” 

Belton is not the only trucker speaking out against the media, though, as several American truckers have also dismissed the journalists as “out of touch.”

“It seems like everything is a cult or an insurrection or an assault on democracy these days,” said Maine Expedited Freight group driver Brian Ilsley. “I don’t understand how people fighting for their freedom can be an assault on democracy. These guys are so disconnected with the average guy.”