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Truckers supporting Donald Trump are warning that their refusal to deliver to the Big Apple could paralyze New York City — as more drivers vow to join the boycott following the bombshell ruling in the former president's civil fraud case.And the circus continues.
"It could shut New York City down," said Jennifer Hernandez, a trucker who has joined in the protest against Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's decision to fine Trump $355 million for inflating his net worth by billions to dupe banks and insurers.
"I'm not trying to hurt the people of New York, that's not what I'm trying to do," Hernandez insisted on NewsNation Monday morning.
"But if New York loses just 10% of the trucks that go in there, their prices are going to skyrocket on everything — from milk to eggs, to any type of goods that the consumer needs.
"When that happens, it's going to cost everyone more money," she warned.
Several other truckers have been posting on social media expressing their support.
One man even suggested the boycott could go on for three years.
"Keep on f — ing around, you're going to find out, New York," he said in a video posted to TikTok.
The boycott seemed to have been started by conservative social media influencer Chicago Ray, who posted a clip Friday saying he had spoken to some of his trucker colleagues who said they would stop making deliveries to the city starting Monday.
He claimed that 95% of truckers support the former president, and said the bosses of freight companies "ain't gonna care if we deny the loads — we'll just go somewhere else."
The truckers say they are protesting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron's decision to fine former President Donald Trump $355 million for inflating the values of his properties. AP
As the video spread on social media, it even gained the attention of the former president.
"Such an honor to have so many Great Patriots on the side of freedom," he posted on his Truth Social network on Sunday.
"Joe Biden's Unfair and Dangerous Weaponization of Law Enforcement is a serious threat to Democracy," Trump argued. "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
The boycott seemed to have been started by conservative social media influencer Chicago Ray. Chicago1Ray/X
Chicago Ray later deleted the video from his X page after it went viral, though he said he still stands with the movement.
"I took that video down from Friday bc it went viral and my Grandson seen it on Tik Tok," he wrote on X.
"I stand with Trump 💯% Truckers for Trump," he added.
"Drivers can make their own decisions based on their families and their careers ... I ain't the leader of any movement," Chicago Ray claimed. "I'm my own man, period."
"contained information concerning a serious national security threat," and requesting that President Biden "declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat."A day after Turner released his statement, White House national security spokesman John Kirby took to the podium to confirm that U.S. intelligence officials have information that Russia has obtained a capability that would enable them to attack U.S. satellites, but that this capability was not yet operational.
"First this is not an active capability that's been deployed and though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety. We're not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth."According to Kirby, the Russian anti-satellite capability is space based and, if deployed, would violate the 1967 international Outer Space Treaty, which both Russia and the United States, along with 128 other nations, are signatories to.
"The 'Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections' is a set of commitments to deploy technology countering harmful AI-generated content meant to deceive voters. Signatories pledge to work collaboratively on tools to detect and address online distribution of such AI content, drive educational campaigns, and provide transparency, among other concrete steps."In addition to Microsoft, the accord also includes social media giants such as X, TikTok and Meta - which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - as well as industry leaders such as Adobe, Amazon, Google, IBM, LinkedIn, McAfee and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT.
Comment: It's likely that Russia has had this information for a short while (at the least), and so one might ask whether there's a reason they're releasing the information now? Could it be partly related to Russia's recent win in Avdeevka, and the expected escalation of provocations from Europe?