Old video of trucker convoy misrepresented as recent Texas border dispute

Context

On January 22, 2024, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the federal government has the authority to dismantle the razor wire installed by Texas along the southern border. This area witnesses a significant influx of undocumented migrants entering the U.S. Despite the ruling, Texas has defied it by denying federal authorities access to a state park in Eagle Pass, situated on the US-Mexico border, where the wire is installed, as reported by CBS News. In response, several far-right extremists are allegedly planning to send a convoy to the Texas border to counter what they describe as an “invasion” by undocumented migrants.

What’s the claim? 

Amid these events, a video depicting a convoy of trucks has gone viral on social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram. It is claimed that the video shows American truckers heading to the southern border in Texas. A user on X (formerly Twitter) shared the clip with the caption: “Trucker convoy on the way to the border, while the regime is threatening to federalize the national guard.” This post has garnered over 169,000 views and approximately 200 shares at the time of writing. Archived versions of similar posts can be accessed here, here, here, and here.

Screenshot of claims made online (Source: X/Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, this video is not related to the current border crisis in the U.S.

What we found

Logically Facts conducted a reverse image search and found a longer version of the viral video on YouTube, published by Insider News on March 4, 2022. The video, titled “Inside the Trucker Convoy Heading to Washington, DC,” shows a convoy of truck drivers traveling from Adelanto, California, to the U.S. Capitol to protest against COVID-19 restrictions.

Comparison showing the visuals in the viral video and the YouTube video. (Source: X/Youtube/Insider News)

The Insider News video includes a voiceover discussing COVID-19 vaccines and footage of rally participants sharing their views on pandemic restrictions. In the viral video, these segments have been edited out, reducing the original 2:36-minute footage to focus solely on the visuals of the truckers’ protest.

In February 2022, truckers embarked on a journey across the country to protest COVID-19 mandates, aiming to reach Washington, D.C., from Adelanto Stadium, California, as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The images from the rally against COVID-19 mandates were also featured in a Business Insider article dated March 21, 2022.

This evidence confirms that visuals from 2022 have been misleadingly linked to the recent border standoff. For more information on the standoff and current U.S. events, read our latest article.

The verdict 

WashinAn old video of a trucker convoy traveling from California to gton D.C. to protest COVID-19 restrictions has been falsely presented as showing a convoy heading to the Texas border amid the recent standoff. Thus, we have marked this claim as false.