As police in Canada begin arresting truck drivers protesting COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, in America, security is beefing up around Washington D.C. as organizers of a so-called “freedom convoy” say they are planning a cross-country trek to the nation’s capital to “restore” the Constitution.
The national organizers of the People’s Convoy, Maureen Steele and Brian Brase, argue they are fighting against so-called “unconstitutional mandates,” and Steele said Friday that a fleet of 1,000 trucks would leave Barstow, California, beginning Feb. 23.
Brian Brase, the movement’s co-founder, has told Newsmax that his group wanted “accountability” and “congressional hearings” upon arrival. Brase did not respond to a request for comment from Daily Kos.
Chatter about the convoy has been buzzing on right-wing social media sites.
And it was reported this week that an alleged member of the Proud Boys Maryland chapter spearheads a Telegram group that organizes support for the truckers headed to Washington.
D.C. Metropolitan Police are preparing to stand up civil disturbance units from Feb. 23 through March 1. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill will receive a security briefing Friday afternoon about efforts U.S. Capitol Police intend to take to secure the complex and other measures that may be necessary to protect the perimeter.
Major Aaron Thacker, strategic communications advisor for the D.C. chapter of the National Guard, told Daily Kos Friday that the Guard is “aware of a request for assistance sent to the Department of Defense by the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency.”
That request asked for the National Guard to provide traffic control support in support of D.C. Metro Police. Thacker underlined that the Guard cannot speculate on its specific missions in response to the People’s Convoy but whatever comes up, they stand ready “in a support role” to local and state authorities.
Response to quell the protests in Canada was slow in part because tow operators able to remove the protesting semi-trucks also rely on the commercial truck industry for their bottom line. This dynamic created a reluctance by some tow operators to cooperate with police to remove the vehicles. Supporters of the convoy in Canada have had less than pleasant words for those tow operators who won’t support the movement.
Thacker said the National Guard does not have plans independent from the agencies it supports to deal with reluctant-to-leave demonstrators but he emphasized: “When an event becomes more than a local authority can handle, we fill the gap, we triage the situation and we see what we can do until a more sustainable solution can come into place.”
The truck protests in Canada were underpinned by xenophobia and racism and news of a looming large-scale demonstration in Washington is less than welcome a year after the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Nonetheless, support has flowed from the familiar corners of Congress for the Canada demonstrations. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Republican, did not return a request for comment Friday about her position on demonstrations planned for D.C. though she was vocal about the Canada Freedom Convoy this week on Twitter.
Even as the Capitol tightens up security measures, some of which have historically included extending a perimeter around the complex, the House Republicans are demanding Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reopen the Capitol completely.
In a letter to Pelosi from Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona on Friday, the House Freedom Caucus member and opponent of the Jan. 6 committee wrote: “This has gone on long enough. There is no reason to keep our Capitol closed and to continue enforcing the draconian mask mandate.”