Trucker convoy DC - live: Protester claims trucks will choke DC ‘like giant boa constrictor’ ahead of SOTU
Protest convoy groups heading to DC area between today and 6 March
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Up to 800 National Guard troops are expected to be deployed ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, amid fears over the protest convoy of truckers heading to Washington DC for the event.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Pentagon confirmed that National Guard personnel have been requested to “provide support at traffic control points in and around the District” and to be alert for “possible disruption at key traffic arteries”.
However, no decision to the deployment or number of troops had yet been made, he said.
Several groups are reportedly planning different protests on different routes to Washington DC this week and into March, with several convoy maps and itineraries shared on social media.
Law enforcement agencies in Maryland, Virginia, and the nation’s capital are monitoring potential demonstrations, and security around the US Capitol is ramping up around Mr Biden’s SOTU address, planned for 1 March, while there are fears that some protests may attempt to disrupt the event.
One organiser of the People’s Convoy from Scranton, Pennsylvania, told a local Fox News station the convoy would be like “a giant boa constrictor ... that basically squeezes you, chokes you and it swallows you”.
“That’s what we’re going to do DC.”
Truckers expected in DC
Truckers are expected to head to DC for the US’s version of the ‘freedom convoy’ that has blocked streets in Canada for weeks.
Here’s what we know about the US trucker protest so far:
What we know about possible trucker protests coming to Washington DC
‘Freedom convoys’ across US aim to replicate Canada demonstrations that gripped Ontario
Fencing erected for SOTU
Fencing has been erected ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Trucker protesters are expected in Washington DC, with fears the demonstrations will disrupt the address.
DC issues alert over protests
An alert has been issued as truckers head to Washington DC.
Tow trucks spotted in DC as truckers set to descend
Two tow trucks were spotted parked at DC’s National Mall on Tuesday.
According to Fox News, the owner of the trucking company said the vehicles had been hired for up to 10-days to carry out “public work”, and that they were expected to be used to remove vehicles blocking the streets of Washington DC illegally.
Traffic control measures being put in place in DC
Traffic control measures, alongside security barriers, are being installed in Washington DC ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address and as truckers head for the Capitol.
Mayors and city managers should review existing strategies, says city planning consultant
Brent Toderian, principal at Vancouver-based national and international city planning consultancy ToderianUrbanWorks, tweets:
If I were a mayor or city manager, I’d be asking for an immediate briefing on existing regulations, strategies etc. relating to truck access on every kind of street, including residential streets, in the downtown and city-wide. The right to protest doesn’t include bringing trucks.
Earlier this month as the Ottawa occupation was underway, he posted that it is a good time for cities to have a serious traffic management conversation about where trucks of various sizes should be allowed, & where they should not.
He notes that it’s a serious transportation planning consideration every day, not just when trucks are being used to occupy cities.
What are the truckers planning?
Taking a cue from demonstrations that paralysed Canada’s capital city for weeks, US truckers on Wednesday plan to embark on a 2,500-mile (4,000-km) cross-country drive toward Washington, DC to protest coronavirus restrictions.
Organisers of the “People’s Convoy” say they want to “jumpstart the economy” and reopen the country. Their 11-day trek will approach the Beltway around the US capital on 5 March “but will not be going into DC proper,” according to a statement.
The Pentagon said on Tuesday it had approved 400 DC National Guard troops to “provide support at designated traffic posts, provide command and control, and cover sustainment requirements” from 26 February through 7 March.
About 50 large tactical vehicles were also approved to be placed at traffic posts.
Brian Brase, a truck driver who is one of the organisers, said regardless of where the trucks stop “we’re not going anywhere” until the group’s demands are met. Those demands include an end to Covid-19 vaccine and mask requirements.
Most US states are already easing some restrictions. In California, where the convoy begins, universal mask requirements were lifted last week while masks for vaccinated people are required only in high-risk areas such as public transit, schools, and healthcare settings.
Another convoy was expected to leave Scranton, Pennsylvania — President Joe Biden’s hometown — on Wednesday morning and arrive on the 495 Beltway (highway) in Washington sometime during the afternoon.
Organiser Bob Bolus told WJLA news, an ABC affiliate in Washington, that his convoy has no intention to break laws or block traffic, but warned this could happen if their demands regarding pandemic mandates and the cost of fuel are not met.
“They are not going to intimidate us and they are not going to threaten us. We’re the power, not them,” he said.
Reuters
National Park Service receives application for SOTU demo
The National Park Service has received an application for a 3,000 person demonstration planned for near the Washington Monument on the morning of the State of the Union address.
The application says the protest is against mandates and in support of convoys in Canada and of the lifting of mandates in DC and the rest of the US.
It has not yet been approved.
DC police chief points to January’s I-95 chaotic shutdown as potential impact
Washington’s Police Chief Robert Contee spoke last week about the potential for a trucker protest in DC and referred to January snowstorm that shut down I-95 in Virginia.
I mean, you think about the impact of this, on I-95 a couple of weeks ago, a snowstorm with two or three tractor-trailers made for a terrible situation there.
So we’re going to plan as best we can, work with our partners, both local and federal, to do whatever we can to mitigate it.
Canada truck protests grew to cover a number of issues
The truck protests that gripped Ottawa for weeks originally began as a protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates, but over time grew to include a more varied number of issues, right up to deposing the Trudeau government.
On Wednesday morning, MSNBC drew up a list of issues truckers in the US might be protesting beyond Covid-19 restrictions.
It probably doesn’t include the last episode of Euphoria, but then I haven’t seen it yet.
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