Since the third week of January 2022, a coalition led by Canadian truckers has held a non-stop protest in Ottawa and several other locations across Canada to interrupt traffic and trade routes to speak out against vaccine mandates and testing requirements for travel.

In particular, the truckers object to Canada’s strict rules requiring vaccination proof and recent testing to cross the border into their nation.

The protest accrued hundreds of vehicles in Ottawa, which prompted the mayor to declare a state of emergency.

The protest has yielded relatively few injuries or reports of violence, but the group has been characterized by the media as anti-vaccine and far-right.

Demonstrators on the ground disagree with these characterizations.

While the protesters consider their movement anti-mandate, some participating hold views opposing the vaccines themselves.

The protesters also dispute media figureheads who have compared their event to January 6 in the United States.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security warned that American copycats could be spawning their own trucker convoy. They particularly warned that the Super Bowl on Sunday or the upcoming State of the Union address in Washington DC could be targeted.

On Sunday, a handful of anti-mandate and anti-vaccine activists rallied outside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California as the game took place.

However, no truckers arrived, and no violence materialized.

Whether a larger trucker-inspired movement materializes in the United States remains to be seen. As for Canada, Prime Minister Trudeau invoked emergency powers Tuesday morning to shut down the event across the country.