Finally, after a prayer from a pastor linked to the Church Militant, a far-right religious website, the convoy rolled out an hour later than scheduled and headed down I-95. It was spearheaded by a bus lined in MAGA slogans.

Almost instantly, one of many automobiles within the convoy acquired misplaced, in keeping with messages posted within the Zello walkie-talkie app that the group is utilizing to speak whereas on the street. Later, when the convoy linked as much as focus on night plans, the assembly rapidly descended into an argument about the place they had been going to be staying. Even making an attempt to satisfy up at a fuel station was troublesome: Due to the scale of a Buc-ee’s in South Carolina, convoy members couldn’t find one another.

A number of hours into the journey, the lead bus pulled over onto the freeway shoulder and kicked out one of many folks onboard, who had traveled on his personal from Washington, DC. It was unclear precisely why he was ejected, however the man, who’s a part of a gaggle that protests daily in assist of individuals jailed for rioting on the Capitol on January 6, was left stranded in Florence, South Carolina, with out his pockets, in keeping with particulars mentioned on a livestream of somebody in touch with the person.

Throughout the day, the half-dozen folks livestreaming the convoy spent a lot of their time responding to questions from a number of the hundreds of individuals watching.

Most of the questions had been concerning the conspiracy that the convoy is a “setup” by the federal authorities to “entrap patriots.” That sense of paranoia has been current within the group from the very starting, in keeping with leaks of the group’s chats on Discord: “This will end up loaded with trolls and feds in no time,” one member wrote every week in the past.

Paranoia was additionally prevalent on the Telegram channels used to coordinate the convoy in numerous components of the nation. “I hope it’s not another J6 trap. People need to pray for discernment about this. But after 3 years of this people are sick of it,” one member wrote, referring to the broadly debunked conspiracy that the Capitol rebellion was a left-wing plan to lure Trump supporters.

On Monday, after the vehicles had began on the street, organizers issued a press launch, claiming “groups are forming to infiltrate the convoy.” The assertion additionally claims that “nowhere on the website does it say anything about the convoy going to the border,” which is inaccurate, because the route for the primary convoy clearly states the ultimate vacation spot is Eagle Pass.

Additionally, one of many organizers of the convoy, Pete Chambers, told Alex Jones last week that his plan included touring to the border to hunt migrants and work with native regulation enforcement to seize them. Among these touring with the convoy, a number of folks on Monday talked about going to Eagle Pass. “We’re all going to the border,” one member declared on the livestream on Monday night time.