Video shows 2022 vaccine mandate protests, not 'Take Our Border Back' convoy | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·3 min read
73

The claim: Video shows 2024 truck convoy traveling to Texas to 'help with securing the border'

A Jan. 24 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows people standing on the side of a highway while cheering and waving flags at passing trucks.

"Trucker convoy rolling into Texas to help with securing the border," reads the video's caption.

Text below the video reads, "Thank you Texas! Convoy over 20 miles long now!"

The video was shared more than 200 times in eight days. A similar post was shared on X, formerly Twitter.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. The footage has been online since at least February 2022 and shows a truck convoy protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates, not a small convoy heading for the U.S. southern border in January.

Video shows 2022 vaccine mandate protest

In late January, the Supreme Court ruled federal agents could cut razor wire along the Rio Grande installed by the state of Texas to deter people from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The court's decision, though, did not end what has become a bitter feud between state officials, notably Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, and the federal government. Nearly all of the Republican governors signed a letter supporting Abbott and criticizing President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his administration for removing the razor wire.

In response to the situation, protesters calling themselves the "Take Our Border Back" convoy began traveling on Jan. 29 to the U.S. southern border, where they intended to prevent migrants from crossing. The group planned rallies for Feb. 3 in Arizona, California and Texas, according to its website and news reports.

However, the Facebook video does not show the "Take Our Border Back" convoy. The footage has been online since at least Feb. 26, 2022, when it was posted on TikTok with a caption that includes the hashtag, "#thepeoplesconvoy." The "People's Convoy" was a protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates happening at the time. That convoy eventually included about 1,000 vehicles and made loops around the Beltway, the highway surrounding Washington D.C., The Washington Post reported.

Fact check: Video shows 2022 US trucker caravan, not 'Take Our Border Back' convoy

While organizers of the "Take Our Border Back" convoy claimed up to 40,000 trucks would be joining, multiple videos of the convoy posted on social media show a vastly smaller scale. A video posted Jan. 31 by the "Take Our Border Back" X account shows about 70 vehicles getting off a highway and a crowd of several dozen people cheering them on. An earlier Jan. 29 livestream showed about 40 vehicles leaving Jacksonville, Florida, according to the Associated Press.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Reuters also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows 2022 protests, not southern border convoy | Fact check