Local residents helped fund protesting truckers

By Anne H. Oman

Reporter-At-Large

"Fernandina ranked fifth among the U.S. communities that contributed to the trucker convoy."

Outline of Zip Code 32034.

Twenty-nine residents of zip code 32034 contributed a total of $2,413 to the so-called “Freedom Convoy” of truck drivers who occupied Canada’s capital and disrupted commerce between the U.S. and its second-largest trading partner in a protest against vaccine mandates. Fernandina ranked fifth among the U.S. communities that contributed to the trucker convoy.

The list of contributing communities was first published in a copyrighted article in the Washington Post on February 15, gleaned from leaked fundraising data posted online. Most donations were channeled through a Christian website called GiveSendGo. {The popular funding website GoFundMe stopped accepting donations for the convoy earlier this month.)

The Post’s analysis found that most donations came from affluent, Republican-leaning zip codes. In addition to Fernandina Beach, the communities included: Roswell, Georgia ($3,159); Eagle, Idaho ($2,731); Beverly Hills, California ($2,609); Marietta, Georgia ($2,559); Alpharetta, Georgia ($2,330); Parker, Colorado ($2,123); Leander, Texas ($1,859); Green Cove Springs, Florida ($1,847); and Cypress, Texas ($1,510). Distribution of money from the website was halted by an order issued February 17 by an Ontario court.

The information posted online by hackers did not reveal all the names of the donors since contributors were not required to authenticate their names or email addresses. But credit card transactions required a zip code, so those were available. One contributor name included in the information shared with some journalists by the nonprofit leak publisher Distributed Denial of Secrets was that of George Leing , who contributed $350 according to the Post article. Mr. Leing’s Linkedin profile lists his home as Fernandina Beach, and the website VoterRecords.com lists him as a registered voter (Republican} living at an address in Amelia Park in 2020. He was Acting Principal Deputy General Counsel of the Commerce Department during the Trump Administration and a former Republican National Committeeman from Colorado. A phone number for the Fernandina address has been disconnected, and a phone number in Colorado associated with Mr. Leing was not answered. Nor was an email sent to an intermediary who promised to forward it t Mr. Leing.

According to Census Bureau figures, U.S. trade with Canada totals some $602 billion annually, exceeded only by our trade with Mexico. The Ambassador Bridge, between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, carries some $360 million worth of goods each day. Protesters closed that bridge for six days, but it has been reopened. An analysis by the Anderson Economic Group found that the automobile industry suffered some $300 million in losses due to the disruption in commerce caused by the convoy, including nearly $145 million in lost wages for workers. Several plants reduced production and cut shifts due to difficulties in obtaining parts and materials.

The truckers were initially protesting a Canadian government rule that truckers crossing into Canada from the United States show proof of vaccination. Later they called for an end to all pandemic restrictions.