A sign was posted in support for the Army and Air National Guard members providing security at a traffic control point in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 16, 2021. Pentagon officials said Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, that they are considering a request by Washington officials for Guard troops to assist law enforcement with traffic control ahead of a trucker protest planned in and around the U.S. capital starting this week. (Erica Jaros/U.S. Army National Guard)
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WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials said Tuesday that they are considering a request by Washington officials for National Guard troops to assist city law enforcement with traffic control ahead of an upcoming trucker protest planned in and around the U.S. capital.
Multiple truck convoys are leaving for Washington this week to disrupt traffic in protest of coronavirus-related government mandates such as mask wearing and vaccines, according to convoy organizers.
The U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency have asked the Defense Department to provide Guard troops to assist with their response, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.
“Those agencies have asked for National Guard personnel to provide support at traffic control points in and around the district to help the USCP and DC government address potential challenges stemming from possible disruptions at key traffic arteries,” he said.
The first convoy is scheduled to leave Scranton, Pa., on Wednesday and circle Washington at noon in Maryland and Virginia along I-495, known as the Capital Beltway, according to a statement by its organizers Bob Bolus and Towers Truckers for America. They intend to disrupt traffic flow to and from the city.
Another group, dubbed The People’s Convoy, is scheduled to leave California on Wednesday and arrive in the beltway area March 5 to disrupt traffic in a similar way, according to a statement from the group.
The Pentagon had not decided as of Tuesday afternoon on the request to send troops, Kirby said.
If approved, it would be the first time D.C. National Guard troops are deployed under a new expedited activation process that Congress established last year after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
The Capitol Police said Friday in a statement that they will help “facilitate lawful First Amendment activity” for the protest.
“Law enforcement agencies across the national capital region are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, D.C., around the time of the State of the Union,” the police agency said. “The USCP is closely coordinating with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service and other allied agencies to include the D.C. National Guard.”
The protests follow similar trucker protests in Ottawa, Canada, where truckers shut down traffic flow around the country’s parliament buildings. That protest ended Saturday after police were sent in to clear the area, according to The Associated Press. Police arrested 170 people.
