Organizers of the Freedom Convoy held a press conference Sunday, following GoFundMe's pulling of funding for the protest, and GiveSendGo's stepping in to fill the void.
The conference gave the convoy organizers an opportunity to further state their goals an intentions, which include a message broader than the mandates. "Let's get people all back to work. Let people open up their businesses, let children have birthday parties," said co-organizer Tamara Lich. "These children... are begging for us to help save their futures."
Co-organizer Benjamin Dichter said the convoy has raised over two million dollars on GiveSendGo and over three hundred thousand dollars in Bitcoin donations.
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When asked about legal action against GoFundMe, organizers said "we don't need to sue them," given they are now automatically refunding donors. "We found out when the world found out," continued the legal counsel when asked about communications with GoFundMe.
Organizers were also asked about the Ottawa's Mayor celebrating GoFundMe's decision. According to one organizer, the Mayor of Ottawa is trying to "starve out the convoy."
Lich said she is very confident with GiveSendGo saying, "they seem really good." Benjamin Dichter also noted he is contact with Dave Rubin and is in the process of setting up a Locals account to allow more donations without censorship.
"They are trying to create an atmosphere of fear," one organizer said, when asked about Trudeau's strategy. He also noted the strategy is ineffective given Trudeau has fled the city, leaving the Liberal government in a difficult position.
When asked about accusations of terrorism, organizers called out the false narrative. "To me, that's laughable," said one organizer, previously employed as an RCMP officer. "I've never seen people so joyful, Canada Day doesn't even get like this," he continued. "Terrorists? There's bouncy castles out there," he exclaimed.
As to the potential that Ottawa officials could bring in tow trucks to remove the trucks from the city, organizers said that it was extremely unlikely that tow truckers would back an effort to forcibly remove the truck drivers or the trucks. The tow truck drivers are in communication with each other to talk about who has been contacted.
"They are reaching all the way down to Buffalo for tow trucks," noted the organizers. Even those US tow truck drivers, he said, have refused to come up and do the job.
The Post Millennial's Beth Baisch asked the organizers about their previous press conference in which they suggested the Conservative Party get rid of Erin O'Toole and promote Pierre Poilievre for leader. Since then, O'Toole has been removed and Poilievre announced his intentions to run.
"Whether the convoy has had an effect in this change, Benjamin Dichter said, "Is it exclusively us? I don't think so. The will was there." He continued, "they realized, they need to go back to their core values."
"We are hopeful change is on the horizon," Dichter concluded. They stated that their protest has had an impact on Canadians as well, saying that "Shockwaves have gone across the province and you can feel them vibrating across the country."
The Freedom Convoy also denounced Pat King, a provocateur who said an end to COVID-19 public health precautions may only be achieved "with bullets." Organizers reassured the press that King and other "rabble-rousers" have nothing to do with the organizers or convoy. The stated again and again their peaceful intentions.
When asked about the greater goal of the convoy, one organizer said it's about "a desire to see a moral compass in government."
"This is an opportunity for Independent Media to shine," Dichter said when asked why the organizers won't allow legacy media in the press conferences.
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