Update:
Monroe trucker Andrew McCartney and Belinda Wright were able to make it to Washington DC to join the other truckers from around the country who traveled to the US Capital to protest mandates. According to a spokesperson, they are meeting with representatives today to have their voices heard.
His truck was impounded in Braselton after it had been reported stolen
MONROE, GA – When the American Freedom Convoy of Truckers converges on Washington DC March 7, 2022, it will be missing one of its national leaders. Air Force veteran and Monroe resident Andrew Mason McCartney, 32, was thwarted in his attempt to lead the convoy from the local area when his truck was impounded by the company he leases his truck from.
According to a press release from a representative for McCartney, the incident happened on March 4 when the group was wrapping up a rally at the Pilot Truck Stop in Braselton with U.S. Congress candidates Vernon Jones and Josh Clark. Braselton Police reportedly asked the truckers to move their trucks, which they did. The police left but then returned and said that McCartney’s truck was listed as a stolen vehicle.
“Andrew is a owner-operator with a lease through the company and a contract that allows him to use the truck during his off time. The attorneys he contacted said per the contract they weren’t allowed to dictate what he does on his off time with his truck. No charges were pressed, but they still towed his truck despite not violating his contract,” said Belinda Wright, a spokesperson with the Great American Patriot Project, adding that even though he had legally leased the vehicle and offered to show the contract, the police declined to look at it. The officer allegedly said that the vehicle had been reported stolen about an hour prior, which would have been about 11 p.m. on Friday night, but declined to say who had reported it stolen.
“Despite providing a valid lease contract, the Braselton Police Department impounded the truck,” Wright said. “The truck was leased from Hirschbach Motor Lines located in Debuque, Iowa.”
Wright said when the officer from Braselton Police Department contacted the company and asked if they wanted to press charges against McCartney, they declined but said they wanted the truck back.
“We believe when we pushed back on the details of the stolen truck report, the Braselton Police Department changed their mind on arresting Andrew,” Wright said.
A spokesman for Hirschbach, Brian Kohlwes, said the reason the truck was impounded was because McCartney’s log showed that he was driving “grossly over the allowed federal hours of service.”
“We support the rights of all Americans and truckers and their freedom of speech but the driver was operating on my (Department of Transportation) mandate and it showed that he was driving grossly over the federal hours of service. His DOT logs show he was many hours in violation of his mandate,” Kohlwes said, confirming that McCartney is an independent contractor but the truck has now been recovered from him, technically leaving him without a job.
McCartney’s representative said that his contract clearly states that he is entitled to 10 days warning before his vehicle can be recovered and he was not given any warning prior to 11 p.m. on Friday night when the vehicle was allegedly reported by the company as stolen. McCartney now has an attorney representing him.
The American Freedom Convoy of Truckers notes in a press release that their convoy to Washington DC is to join in with the Frontline Truckers to peacefully protest and demand that their voices be heard.
“We will continue to peacefully and lawfully protest until we see these mandates lifted and laws are in place prohibiting this kind of unconstitutional over-reach from ever happening again. We, the American Freedom Convoy, are one of at least 6 organized convoys. Our intentions are of peaceful and lawful protest. We have a strict code of conduct in place of which every participant has agreed to. We have no intention to enter the DC area with our trucks nor to block the Beltline. If any other convoys are doing that then they are not with us,” the American Freedom Convoy of Truckers said in a press release.
They went on to note that the protestors are made up not only of truckers, but medical professionals, moms and dads, blue collar workers, attorneys, grandparents, business owners, corporate professionals and more from many different ethnicities.
“We have vaccinated and unvaccinated, democrats and republics, with various religious backgrounds, all beautifully uniting for a common cause, ‘freedom of choice’ as our constitution ensures. Some of us voted for Biden and some voted for Trump. Some like Tucker Carlson some like Don Lemon. If we must be labeled the only label that represents our diverse group is ‘American.’ We are one.”
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