# What were these MAGATs up to? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 4, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357 "2022-11-04T15:37:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/1 "2022-11-04T15:37:23Z")
As I commuted up 101 north to San Jose this morning, I passed under an overpass bridge. Early January 2022, this bridge was festooned with American flags and a banner with a picture of an automatic weapon on it. This morning, there were a lot of people with American flags, and some were waving signs with writing (which I couldn’t quite read because the light was too dim). And a couple of guys were holding cameras and aiming them down at traffic passing underneath. What’s up with that? There were thousand of cars passing underneath because it’s a major commuting artery going up to Silicon Valley. What were they doing? ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/2 "2022-11-04T15:47:43Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > What were they doing? Checking to see how many people are flipping them off or giving them a thumbs down? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/3 "2022-11-04T15:50:14Z")
Something to do with these nuts? > **[Mysterious group wants to 'Take Back San Jose' - San José Spotlight](https://sanjosespotlight.com/mysterious-group-wants-to-take-back-san-jose-election-2022/)** > > A new group has emerged in San Jose politics just in time for a consequential election with an ominous message to "take back" the city—but no one seems to know who is behind it. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/4 "2022-11-04T15:53:47Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > which I couldn’t quite read because the light was too dim The light wasn’t the only thing that was dim that morning (meaning the sign-wavers, not you). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/5 "2022-11-04T15:57:02Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > What’s up with that? There were thousand of cars passing underneath because it’s a major commuting artery going up to Silicon Valley. What were they doing? Could be simple voter intimidation. Try to make folks feel like they’re being recorded, watched, surveilled. Make a few folks just uncomfortable enough to avoid the polls. Or it could be genuine good-faith sign waving with a couple of weirdos snapping photos of moving vehicles. Hard to speculate further without knowing what was on the signs. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/6 "2022-11-04T16:11:37Z")
Protesting in such a manner that passersby don’t know who you are or what you’re protesting seems like a major fail. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/7 "2022-11-04T16:13:07Z")
I’m surprised that they’re allowed to loiter on overpasses, what with the danger of the crap they carry falling onto traffic. Plus there’s all the distracting traffic. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/8 "2022-11-04T16:22:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Could be simple voter intimidation. That seems like quite a stretch. Is there a ballot box at the overpass? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/9 "2022-11-04T16:32:32Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > ome were waving signs with writing (which I couldn’t quite read because the light was too dim). And a couple of guys were holding cameras and aiming them down at traffic passing underneath. The signs said, “Honk if you love Biden”, the video will be posted, “Look! Thousands of cars go by with NO HONKS!!! People _ **HATE** _ Biden!!!1!1!1!” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2022, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/10 "2022-11-04T16:45:05Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That seems like quite a stretch. Is there a ballot box at the overpass? 👍 😃👍 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/11 "2022-11-05T01:12:25Z")
I love the bad grammar in that sign’s message. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/12 "2022-11-05T01:42:59Z")
They’re simply conspiracy theorists. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/13 "2022-11-05T02:28:09Z")
They may be simple people, but conspiracy theories are seldom simple. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/14 "2022-11-05T11:19:54Z")
“ **These are just people of the land, the common clay of the West.** **You know …** **morons.”** ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/15 "2022-11-05T11:54:00Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I love the bad grammar in that sign’s message. Maybe it’s a stealth recycling program? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2022, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/16 "2022-11-05T12:42:41Z")
Or, and this is my personal favorite theory, they just hate pronouns. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2022, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/17 "2022-11-06T12:29:30Z")
Criminy, I sure started a shitshow on nextdoor. I asked this same question there, although in a less Doper-snarky manner. I thought maybe it was our local VFW or something and someone on nextdoor would fill me in. The simple question turned into a massive political war. Half the people posting were of the same opinion as posters in this thread, and the other half said that the bridge people were “welcoming patriots” - though I notice they didn’t address the camera issue. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2022, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/18 "2022-11-06T12:56:40Z")
Was this overpass inside or outside the goat line? ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/19 "2022-11-06T20:28:00Z")
Interesting. Quite recently, while on vacation, my travels had me going through, but not to, Las Vegas and I saw the same thing there on an overpass crossing the highway I was on. _Loads_ of people, many of them kids, loads of US flags and lots of video/picture taking. Suddenly I heard a loud blast of an air horn, like that from a diesel locomotive. It was coming from this big Ram pickup truck ( festooned with all manner of RW decals ) passing us. It was riding on wheels large enough to come from an armored personnel carrier, and lifted so high on its suspension you could replace the exhaust system by sitting in a chair under it. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357/20 "2022-11-06T21:38:38Z")
All the better to steal the catalytic converter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-these-magats-up-to/974357.md?page=2)