Lizer welcomes truckers protesting virus mandates

WINDOW ROCK

Standing on a flatbed trailer with the Navajo Nation flag raised behind him last Friday, a maskless Vice President Myron Lizer welcomed the truckers of “The People’s Convoy” who are protesting COVID-19 mandates, to the Navajo Nation in Lupton, Arizona.

The convoy originated in Adelante, California, on Feb. 23 and is expected to arrive in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

“People are rising up!” Lizer said in his address posted in videos on Facebook and YouTube.

“The people are dissatisfied and so where do we place ourselves in this whole political scheme?” Lizer asked the crowd. “Jesus and our God is in government… We have some extreme favor right now.”

Inspired by the Canadian truckers’ “Freedom Convoy,” U.S. truckers believe that with the availability COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics along with diminishing cases and severity of illness, it’s time to reopen the country.

Their mission in going to D.C. is to demand an end to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 mandates, including vaccines and masks, so that “accountability and liberty” can be restored.

People need to get back to work and live their lives without fear or restrictions, the truckers said.

“The last 23 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have been a rough road for all Americans to travel – spiritually, emotionally, physically, and, not least, financially,” The People’s Convoy stated in a Feb. 26 press release.

Freedom, unity

At the trucker’s morning meeting on Feb. 25, Lizer introduced himself as a former pastor, businessman and vice president of the Navajo Nation.

“I’m not a politician, but I know how to get things done,” he said. “The federal government is getting too big even for our tribal members. A lot of them, they vote Democrat. I’m a Republican.”

As reported by “The People’s Convoy” website, the group is a law-abiding transcontinental movement for liberty and protection of individual rights. The group prides itself in being non-partisan and is not affiliated with any other groups.

“This convoy is about freedom and unity. The truckers are riding unified across party and state lines and with people of all colors and creeds,” the press release said.

Seemingly out of touch, Lizer went on to say that he enjoyed “a lot of favor” with the previous administration under President Donald Trump.

“I appreciate him,” said Lizer. “If this video gets back to President Trump — ‘We love you and miss you and we look forward to convening with you in a meeting here real shortly.’”

It was not clear what meeting he was referring to in his message to Trump, but Lizer advised the truckers in Lupton that as they go across the county to consider what God is “saying to us” right now.

Per a Navajo Nation emergency order, mask mandates and vaccine requirements for employees are still in force on the Navajo Nation, which Lizer promotes with his boss, President Jonathan Nez, in daily COVID-19 updates and weekly town halls.

As of March 1, 1,649 Navajos have perished due to COVID-19 and that number does not include off-reservation numbers.

Earlier this week, Nez said that even though cases have been declining the Nation must “remain diligent” and keep taking precautions to lessen the spread of COVID-19 .

“Keep wearing masks in public,” Nez said on Tuesday. “Areas off of the Navajo Nation continue to lift COVID-19 protocols, but here on the Navajo Nation we continue to push back on the virus.”

Jared Touchin, communications director for the president’s office, told the Navajo Times that Nez has taken “clear and strong positions” on public health orders to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including the face mask mandate.

“That is the official position of the Office of the President and Vice President,” said Touchin. “To our knowledge, the convoy did not enter or set foot within the Navajo Nation.”

‘A good time’

But according to a Lupton trading post employee who wished to remain anonymous, the truckers arrived in Lupton (Tse Si Ani) Chapter area on Feb. 24, and many stayed overnight in the area across Interstate 40 by the frontage road, which is reservation land, where they were welcomed with Navajo hospitality.

This was confirmed by local Diné silversmith and bladesmith David Yellowhorse.

“They stayed right there on the side of (Route) 66, right at exit 359,” he said.

Yellowhorse said the trucks lined up along the shoulder of the frontage road and toward the “old dome” and gas station that used to be called “Indian Village,” which is all reservation land.

“We had a good time with all the truckers from the ‘People’s Convoy,’ as they call it,” said Yellowhorse.

He confirmed Lizer spoke early the next morning in a parking lot on Navajo Nation land.

“That was on a trailer of one of the gentlemen that was in the convoy,” he said. “They set up a speaker system for him to speak.”

Yellowhorse Gift Store manager Tazbah Glasses clarified that the rest area strip of land under the large red rock formation in Lupton, where there are trading posts, gas stations and a truck stop, is private land that was purchased from the Navajo Nation when the railroad was built over a century ago.

However, many of the travel stop’s shop owners and employees are Navajo and property is surrounded by the Navajo Nation, she said.

“That’s actually fee land within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation, which definitely makes it part of Navajo,” said Yellowhorse.

Besides that, Yellowhorse shared that very little convoy activity occurred in the commercial area across the highway.

Yellowhorse said the truckers were welcomed by a number of Navajos from the community on Thursday night, Feb. 24, who shared food and fellowship.

“My wife and a few local Diné ladies had come in and made fry bread,” he said. “They were so appreciative.”

He said even Diné Republican candidate Karen Bedonie showed up, who is running for governor of New Mexico.

“She was there with her kids,” he said. “They helped make fry bread and helped my wife and two other ladies who were from Navajo churches. We went through a lot of dough!”

Yellowhorse also brought wood for campfires so that the truckers could stay warm.

“I built a fire for them, and ended up building another and then another, because the crowd just kept getting larger and larger,” he chuckled.

To the best of his recollection, Yellowhorse does not remember many people wearing masks.

“I’m with them,” said Yellowhorse, referring to the truckers. “I support the protest against the mandates. I think it should be any and everybody’s choice to wear a mask or even get vaccinated. We’re free people.”

‘Manifold wisdom!’

In his welcome address, Lizer went on to say there’s a “correction that is happening” and it’s not a political one.

“It’s a spiritual one,” he said.

“I am the vice president of the largest tribe, here on Navajo,” said Lizer. “We are still here, first nations people. We’re not asking for the land back, we’re asking for that spiritual authority back.

“That’s what was God’s original intent for us,” he continued. “I believe he wanted us all to live in unity. He wanted us all to live in perfect fellowship, but somewhere along the way it got usurped, it got stolen.”

Lizer said he’s praying for God’s original intent to be restored.

He encouraged the truckers to pray for first nations and all people.

“Whether you’re Native American, Hispanic, Anglo American, Afro-American, whoever you are, please continue to pray for the unity of the faith in Christ Jesus,” he said.

“When we have a part of the heart of God, we only have part of his heart and I want his wholeness,” he said. “I want his manifold wisdom!”

As the convoy moves eastward, it is growing in number although it has been overshadowed in the news media by the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Also in the past week, many states, cities and major businesses have been voluntarily dropping vaccine and mask mandates as COVID-19 cases continue to trend downward, turning over virus protection choices back to localities and individuals.

“We are the people of the United States of America and we stand together under the banner of freedom – the one thing that unites us all,” states the People’s Convoy Truckers’ Declaration. “Liberty flows through all of our veins.”

At last estimate, shared by a participant on Facebook, The People’s Convoy was more than 60 miles long with over 7,000 trucks and other vehicles, but those numbers vary day by day.

“As you move forward, continue to just marvel at God’s beautiful creation,” said Lizer. “Our hearts are with you. God bless you.”

Information: The People’s Convoy on Facebook or www.ThePeoplesConvoy.org

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