MAD MAGA: BEYOND BELTWAYDOME RETURNING TO D.C. THREE SHOOTINGS & A CHILD MOLESTER LATER

When we last left the convoy, they were licking their wounds after two days spent entering residential neighborhoods to harass elected officials and leaving humiliated by teenagers. Locals fought back with eggs and signs and middle fingers and drove the Convoy out of the Bay Area. The past three weeks have been generally quieter, interspersed with moments of terror including three shootings and the revelation that one member of the convoy, which has several children in tow, is a convicted child molester.

APRIL 24-30

After a long week of protesting, on Sunday, April 24th, the convoy was invited to meet with supporters in a friendly location—Placerville, CA, aka “Old Hangtown”. The announcement of an event by and for convoy fans was a relief to our group and convoy watchers in general. (A note on language—“convoy watchers” are critical of the convoy. We watch for research purposes, historical purposes, and to keep ourselves safe when the convoy is in town. People who follow the convoy’s travels because they support the convoy’s goals are referred to here as “convoy fans.”)

Several trucks drive past a sign that says 'Welcome to Placerville, Old Hangtown' — Welcome to Hangtown. *Image credit: One American no Party*

During their afternoon excursion the convoy members blocked a highway, met with local proud boys, drove through downtown honking, punched a guy, and then went back to their camp. This set the pattern for the rest of the week—short, disruptive trips in which blatantly illegal activities were ignored by the cops.

Convoy supporters stand on an overpass, watching as the people’s convoy blocks all 3 lanes of a highway. A haze hangs in the air, caused by burning rubber from cars doing burnouts on the roadway. — We love to smell car farts while waving our flags, don’t we, folks? *Image credit: Rise Images*

Traffic disruptions continued on **Monday **when the convoy visited the State Capitol building in Sacramento after blocking all lanes of the highway, for the second day in a row.

https://twitter.com/QRemedyResearch/status/1518695457576435713

The convoy was very close-mouthed about their destination, which ended up being a few laps around the Capitol building, a few laps around the California Department of Health Care Services, and then snarling up traffic during their laps around César Chávez Plaza. A local source informed our researchers that local Proud Boys believe that spot, location of many mutual aid activities and protests due to its proximity to downtown, is “antifa headquarters.”

https://twitter.com/sac_rad_edu/status/1518707662103334913

The most important photo of the day, viewable in the embedded tweet below, was of a convoy-goer nicknamed “Bandit,” who hadn’t spent much time in front of the streamers’ cameras before. There was a good reason for his previous reticence, as we discovered later in the week.

https://twitter.com/QRemedyResearch/status/1518707931960782848

Tuesday was a pretty standard rest day for the convoy. Most people chilled out at camp, some repaired their vehicles, a few went to the Capitol for some committee meetings, one streamer said politicians should be killed for treason and attempted a weird anti-choice art project with baby dolls, and another streamer admitted to being at J6 and confirming he is a white nationalist. Just the usual stuff.

Small baby dolls in bathing suits are displayed on the steps of the Sacramento state capitol in protest of reproductive rights bill CA AB 2223. Moments after this image was taken, police approached to deal with the 'littering' and the baby dolls were removed. — Very normal anti-abortion art installation from the convoy. *Image credit (still): Alex Glasgow*

That night’s meeting was the high point of the day, and of the week so far. TPC announced they would be leaving Sacramento on Thursday. It was also almost exactly a month after the announcement on March 27 that TPC was leaving Hagerstown for California. Before they headed east, the convoyers would be special guests at an anti-government proud boy rally in Olympia Washington, but to get there convoy would need to pass through the “bowels of hell”—aka Portland, Oregon.

https://twitter.com/QRemedyResearch/status/1519148732150951938

Wednesday was largely boring- some convoyers did vehicle repairs at camp, some talked about making explosives, some dropped off food at homeless encampments (please don’t do this, it’s better to work with a local organization instead of invading strangers’ living spaces), others had small children hand out convoy propaganda near the Capitol.

The major topic of conversation through the day was what they convoy members thought would happen when they passed through Oregon, especially the Portland area. The ideas of what counter-protestors might do varied from eggs to rocks dropped from overpasses to even more extreme actions.

Thursday was a fairly boring travel day. The convoy left 2 hours late, spent over an hour at a gas stop in Corning, CA, the ambulance rear ended another convoy vehicle and broke, and then the group spent the night in Talent, OR.

For convoy watchers, our strange hobby and research project got a lot more serious.

It’s common for convoy watchers to attempt to find additional information on members of the group, especially the more colorful characters and oddballs. In most cases this info is quietly filed in a folder and forgotten about—some of the convoy members are pushing hate and extremism, but others are desperate for meaning, and/or mentally ill, or coping with the loss of a child to suicide or a spouse to illness. Solving the puzzle is usually more exciting than the answers, so we figure things out and put it aside.

This time, things were different.

The section below deals with child sexual assault and has been cordoned off in a sidebar, viewable or skippable at the reader’s discretion.

START ASIDE

CONTENT WARNING: NON-GRAPHIC DISCUSSION OF CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT, HATE SPEECH, MINIMIZING HARM, CHILDREN IN PERIL AND VICTIM-BLAMING. CONTENT WARNING: NON-GRAPHIC DISCUSSION OF CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT, HATE SPEECH, MINIMIZING HARM, CHILDREN IN PERIL AND VICTIM-BLAMING.

It’s easy to get identifying info on most of the truckers, as they’re legally required to display DOT numbers on the side of the trucks. You can enter those DOT numbers into a website and get all kinds of info, which usually includes the name of the permitted driver of the commercial vehicle. An anonymous source found the DOT number, used this process, discovered Bandit’s legal name, and popped it into a google search. They found a lot more than they bargained for.

In the words of our source, who prefers to remain anonymous:

“What started out as just searching for who the bearded guy in OANP's truck (One American No Party, a convoy truck driver & live streamer) was that was talking about wanting to go back and run over the children in Oakland that threw eggs at the trucks turned into outing a convicted child molester.”

The source contacted our collective because we are known convoy watchers. They provided us with a starting point (a name and a link) and asked for our help.

It was a weighty process. The thought of wrongly accusing someone of being a convicted child molestor classified as a Sexually Violent Predator was awful. After all, some people have similar faces. Luckily for us, the Indiana sex offender registry listed identifying marks, including several tattoos on the person’s forearms. After sorting through a few old live-streams and taking some screenshots, it was clear the initial identification was correct.

Bandit’s legal name was Marcus E. Coppok, and on May 2, 2007 he was charged with 7 counts of child molestation of a Child Under 14. On January 9, 2009 he plead guilty to 2 counts, and the other 5 were dropped. On February 2, 2009 he was sentenced to 18 year plus 2 years suspended for one offense and 2 years plus 6 months suspended for the second offense after the second sentence. He was released on February 25, 2016. He is classified as a Sexually Violent Predator.

There are children in the convoy—currently fewer than 10—but at one point there were dozens. The kids are sometimes poorly supervised. The adult convoyers view each other as family, and kids are encouraged to do the same. And there was a convicted child molester in their midst.

Our collective agreed the most important thing was getting the info out quickly, and especially to parents who were traveling with their children in the convoy. We had no way to contact the convoy leadership privately, and certainly no way to do so quickly. And frankly we didn’t think the convoy organizers would believe us—their ingroup/outgroup beliefs are too strong. A month ago I might have said differently, but after weeks of hearing the convoyers call us libt*rds, window lickers (for wearing masks), child murderers (for supporting the right to have an abortion in general and AB 2223 specifically), and fantasizing about lynching elected officials—any hope we once held is gone.

But we did have a way to inform them publicly—via Twitter.

The convoy fans watch us and the convoy hashtags—partly for news, partly to critique anything we get wrong (and right), partly to try to doxx us, sometimes to threaten us. All the convoy watchers I have contact with have been threatened, most on a daily basis. A few have deleted posts, privatized their accounts, changed their usernames, or deleted accounts altogether to minimize the harassment.

But all that aside, we knew they watched us. Convoy fans quickly saw the post and started discussing it, both on Twitter and in the comment sections of the convoy livestreamers. Some members of the convoy seemed to agree Coppok had to go, while others defended him and called those who had posted the information “satanists.” That same night the convoy leadership asked Coppok to leave, and he did, after a warm send off with a truck horn salute and messages of “We love you” over the CB radio.

https://twitter.com/NoMoreQuarks/status/1520074292657999873

When the convoy stopped in Ohio on Sunday night, Coppok visited briefly and streamed it on YouTube. The stream of it has since been deleted.

END ASIDE

Friday was the day the convoyers would pass through the ‘“bowels of hell.” Early in the day, proud boy Santa returned to the group. The convoyers received a fairly warm reception from locals in southern Oregon, including one who pulled down a “facists not welcome here” banner to ensure the convoy felt welcome. The day was tense, with the kid group traveling separately for safety reasons and the main group diverting around Portland in an effort to avoid the evil “ANTIFA”.

Convoy members shot live rounds at bystanders twice.

The first incident occurred in Portland. Several counter-protestors threw what appeared to be eggs and/or balloons full of paint off the Glisan overpass on 205 North as the convoy was approaching. The convoy responded by stopping, blocking all lanes of the highway, attempting to hose down the people on the bridge with a firehose, firing two shots, then driving away. The police responded quickly, although after the convoy had departed, and focused on the people standing on the overpass (as opposed to doing anything to the people who fired the shots). They later recovered “evidence of one shot fired.” You can read more about the Portland shooting incident in LCRW contributor Vishal Singh’s Daily Kos piece.

https://twitter.com/NoMoreQuarks/status/1520224021165522950

The second shooting occurred near Vancouver, WA later in the evening. Convoy members fired several shots near an overpass after hearing rumors on the CB that eggs were being thrown from another overpass. Police initially didn’t respond at all to this incident, and only began investigating after a video of the shooting was posted to reddit several days afterwards. Fortunately, no-one was injured in either incident.

https://twitter.com/Johnnthelefty/status/1520267420161568768

As expected, the police did little or nothing to reign in on the convoy who shot at people. Less than an hour after the second shooting, the convoy arrived at their camp site in a Walmart parking lot in Woodland, WA. The police showed up shortly after—not to investigate, but to welcome the convoy to town. Later in the evening, the convoyers made jokes about the earlier gunfire being the sound of a vehicle backfiring, fireworks, or popcorn.

On Saturday, the convoy attended a small facist rally in Olympia, Washington, where they mingled with other extremists, threatened to shoot people, and announced they will be spending a few days in Idaho before heading back toward Washington, DC.

https://twitter.com/QRemedyResearch/status/1520497093881782272

START ASIDE

FYI ON CONVOY FUNDING FYI ON CONVOY FUNDING

The most frequent question we’re asked about the convoy is “who is paying for this?” The people’s convoy exists on donations, but it is not a 501c3. An anti-vaxx, anti-mask, covid denying organization called the AFCLF (American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedom) acts as a “fiscal sponsor.” The AFCLF’s 501c3 org collects donations, deals with accounting, and processes reimbursements. The AFCLF is also the reason TPC has an (unenforced) official policy against political flags, as 501c3s are prohibited from participating in political campaigns. The AFCLF gets a 10% cut of the donations for providing this service- as of this writing that cut is $189,169.48. Not a bad deal for an organization that only received 501c3 status from the IRS in August of 2021.The convoy receives “in kind” donations as well, which are non-cash contributions of goods and services ranging from gas to food to security services and more.

Donations made to 501c3s are tax deductible, and donor lists are confidential. It’s unlikely we’ll ever know who paid for all this, especially if one of the other organizations supporting the convoy have contributed financially. Other California-based non-profits are also supporting TPC with logistical support, publicity, and possibly financially including The Unity Project, Leigh Dundas and Freedom Fighter Nation, and RFK Jr’s Children’s Health Defense. The convoy has attempted to raise money in other ways, including affiliate sales of jury spots for the ill-fated kangaroo court fake grand jury that was canceled after the first of five scheduled nights and affiliate sales of a commemorative journal that appears to be a MLM scheme. It’s unclear how much, if any, of the convoy’s budget comes from affiliate schemes.

For $24.95 you and whoever has the misfortune of using your bathroom can remember great moments in convoy history.

END ASIDE

COME WHAT MAY

The past few weeks have been mercifully quiet on convoy watch. On May 1 the convoy traveled to Idaho where they discovered all their cold food had gone bad, grifted food from the locals, and had a poorly attended rally sponsored by local far right extremists before starting their journey back toward DC on May 5. They’ve faced wind delays, another poorly attended rally in Des Moines, and of course the usual vehicle issues and squabbling.

Several police officers are standing in a parking lot with members of the people’s convoy. A police cruiser is visible to the left, assorted convoy vehicles including a schoolbus are also in view. — Police talking to convoy members after the shooting after their Ohio rally. *Image Credit: Alex Glasgow YouTube*

Unfortunately, their rally in Ohio on May 15 was well attended, and while the convoy was small when they arrived in Idaho its size has since nearly doubled. With an increase of size comes an increase of drama- one member of the convoy called the police Sunday evening after the rally, complaining that another convoy member had shot at him during an argument. On Tuesday May 17th the convoy arrived at the Hagerstown Speedway, their DC base, and a rally at 6pm.

We’ll see what happens next.