Savannah Hulsey Pointer, FISM News
The American chapter of the trucker’s convoy, branded the “People’s Convoy,” has begun its trip to Washington D.C. in hopes of making it in time for President Joe Biden’s March 1 State of the Union Address, according to Fox News.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that she is aware of the reports of the truckers’ trek from her home state of California to the nation’s capital. “We are monitoring the situation closely but deferred to the USCP, which is in charge of security,” Drew Hammill, spokesperson for Pelosi, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital.
According to Yahoo News, the House speaker said on Wednesday that she has every confidence in the Capitol’s security ahead of expected trucker protests, despite reports that the truckers hope to bring transportation to a halt around the Capitol Building.
“They have a good handle on what the expectation is,” Pelosi told reporters of the local law enforcement’s preparations when asked about security considerations. “I feel confident.”
Capitol Police are reportedly preparing for a convoy similar to the Canadian version dubbed the “Freedom Convoy” that was recently broken up by force in Ottawa, Canada where tens of thousands of truckers gridlocked the nation’s capital for weeks.
However, according to Fox News, the Washington police have said that they plan to “facilitate” First Amendment-protected protests and work with law enforcement agencies and the D.C. National Guard to prepare for Biden’s national address.
“The United States Capitol Police and the United States Secret Service have been closely working together to plan for the upcoming State of the Union,” the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement Friday. “The temporary inner-perimeter fence is part of those ongoing discussions and remains an option, however at this time no decision has been made.”
According to Yahoo’s report on the preparations, the Pentagon has approved a request from U.S. Capitol Police and D.C. officials to deploy the National Guard to assist with traffic, with The Associated Press reporting that 400 D.C. National guard members and 300 members from other states will be on-site for the event.
The Daily Mail reported that dozens of truckers have already started what is estimated to be an 11-day trek from the California beltway to Washington D.C., as of Wednesday. The group will be protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other COVID-related violations of personal liberty.
The People’s Convoy is “comprised of more than two dozen 18-wheeler trucks, along with about 50 pickups and recreational vehicles [and] has called on the federal government to end the National Emergency enacted at the start of the pandemic, arguing the threat posed by the coronavirus has now receded,” the Daily Mail stated in their report.
“This is for our freedoms, our human rights. Enough is enough,” trucker Ron Coleman, 61, of Reno, Nevada, said as he prepared to make the 2,500-mile journey.
Shane Class, a trucker who traveled from Idaho to join the rally, said, “I think everybody’s here for different reasons, but it all boils down to the same thing: Freedom and liberty. It’s time for our government to start understanding that people want that freedom in the Constitution back.”