RALEIGH, N.C. — Protesters in Proud Boys uniforms gathered in downtown Raleigh along with a convoy of trucks Friday, briefly stopping in front of the legislature before being told to park one block away.
Roughly 40 people came to Jones Street, some in a tractor-trailer that had traveled from Mebane as part of an earlier protest against COVID-19 mandates.
About half the group wore the Proud Boys’ black and yellow colors, carrying flags that read “Proudly Unvaccinated” and shirts that read “(Expletive) Antifa.”
Twitter posts associated with the Mebane group of anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters suggested they planned to block traffic downtown similar to ongoing demonstrations by truckers in Canada.
But within minutes of arriving downtown, the tractor-trailer and convoy of roughly a dozen pickup trucks moved to a parking lot further down Jones Street at Raleigh police’s request.
At one point, two men in Proud Boys uniforms stood guard in front of a portable toilet near the General Assembly while a third was inside, but no other public facilities were blocked Friday.
While many of the protesters carried anti-vaccine mandate signs, their comments through a megaphone covered a variety of topics, including unspecified government attempts at mind control.
Five counter-protesters held a Black Lives Matter flag on the opposite side of Jones Street, and the groups shouted at each other.
