A convoy of truckers came through Laurel and Billings last week.
It’s one part of the People’s Convoy, similar to the Freedom Convoy in Canada.
The convoy is just outside Washington, D.C., in Hagerstown, Maryland and has more ahead after a big day on Saturday.
The group convoy rallied to end COVID vaccine and mask mandates at the Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday.
"We need our Constitution to reign supreme," said Maureen Steele, the truckers organizer for the convoy. "We need this national emergency rescinded."
We contacted some members of Congress about the people's convoy.
"I stand with all Montanans fighting for freedom," Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., stated in an email statement. "President Biden's overreaching vaccine mandates are hurting Montana truckers, workers and businesses. I won't stop working until all of these big government mandates are reversed."
“Senator Tester has urged the Department of Homeland Security to halt its vaccine requirement for truckers and work with Canadian officials to coordinate regulations to provide stability for Montana producers and to protect trade and essential travel across the northern border," a spokesperson for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., stated in an email.
Steele is from Condon Montana and has been with the convoy since its start in southern California.
"Well, the trip's been amazing," she said. "Every place we've been, every stop we've had along the way, we've been greeted by thousands of people at each stop. And coming across the country, there were only seven overpasses on the entire trip that didn't have someone on them waving a flag."
That support could be seen last week on Interstate 90 for a separate convoy on its way to meet the big convoy.
"We've tapped into something in America," Steele said. "People felt alone. That's a sentiment I heard on this entire journey. So people are feeling a sense of community again and this love of country again."
And she says it's brought together people of different viewpoints.
"We have rainbow flags," Steele said. "We have the American flag. We have unvaxxed and vaxxed. There's been people I've been speaking to on this tour that are Bernie Sanders voters, but they're here they're with us because there was freedom and we all can rally under the banner of freedom. The great unifier. It is liberty crackles through all of our veins as Americans. The biggest takeaways, patriotism is alive and well in this country without a doubt. And there's nothing like the generosity of the American heart. It's been just absolutely beautiful."
And Steele says the People's Convoy hopes to meet with members of Congress on Tuesday.
