By Chelsea Meyer
B103 Rockford
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SOUTH BELOIT — A convoy of American truckers calling for an end to all COVID-19 mandates and restrictions rolled through the region on Saturday on its way to the nation’s capital.

The Freedom Convoy takes a page from Canadian protesters who spent three weeks in late January demonstrating against COVID-19 mandates, congesting three U.S. border crossings and Canada’s capital city.

Residents from around the Stateline waved flags and held up signs to show support for the convoy as it passed through the area.

Related: Illinois ends its indoor mask mandate

Krista Brinkmeyer stood on the overpass of Interstate 39 from Baxter Road to Interstate 80 with her family on Saturday as trucks rolled by. She says they did this to thank the convoy members.

“I feel like we have lost some of our guidance as a nation, what our country is built on,” Brinkmeyer said. “We also still need to be able make some of our own choices in regards to family issues, schooling and health care issues. We are all different individuals but we have lost what our great nation is about.”

Related: Rockford COVID hospitalizations fall for sixth straight week

Despite many mandates being lifted in Illinois and surrounding states, these groups have pushed forward with one common demand: End COVID-19 mandates, including mask and vaccine requirements nationwide.