The Yellow Vest movement in France in 2019 protested Macron's egregious fuel taxes. In Ottawa in 2022, the Freedom Convoy exposed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's autocratic Covid lockdown measures. The Dutch-Belgian border was blockaded by farmers in tractors in 2023 to protest job-killing regulation on the farming industry.
All of them were well organized and withstood governmental threats and counter moves.
A new protest, or the idea of one, has popped up in New York: a trucking delivery ban in New York City to protest Judge Arthur Engoron's controversial ruling against Donald Trump in the ongoing series of lawfare attacks on the former president.
Populist protests invite media scrutiny. They showcase the concerns of ordinary citizens while effectively hampering commerce. If properly coordinated, this style of protest works. The question remains: will the nascent #Truckers4Trump protest squeeze its intended target of New York City, or will it fizzle?
Although the trucking ban on New York City deliveries started today, no one expected to see much of an immediate impact. Presidents' Day is a national holiday, shipments are naturally slower. Whether or not the boycott has teeth, or has any lasting effect, remains to be seen.
X user "Chicago Ray" (@Chicago1Ray) was one of the most visible faces of the young movement online on Friday the 16th. Ray has called for no deliveries to New York or Washington, D.C. for the past three days. Today, however, he changed his tune.
There is a fine line between legitimate political protest and grandstanding. The former is born of serious grievance and usually involves the livelihood of the protesters. The latter is often a political stunt that gains enough traction to attract media attention, and once it collapses into the vacuum of its baselessness, believers in the cause are demoralized.
As NYC residents, TheManhattan is naturally torn. Of course we want to see corrupt politicians like Letitia James bear the wrath of local citizens over necessity shortages. On the other hand, testing the city's already short supply chain seems foolhardy. With resources already stretched by migrant overflow, is now the time?
Of course conservatives are upset about the Trump decision. It amounts to election interference. Is there a broad-based appetite for cutting off supplies for millions of citizens as a result? It's tough to say.
