While trucker convoys are on track to stage traffic-stopping demonstrations in Washington, D.C., as soon as this week, the Pentagon announced Tuesday that it is reviewing a request to call up the D.C. National Guard for extra support.
The decision to deploy the D.C. Guard has not yet been made, John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday. But, he acknowledged, Capitol Police and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency have made the appeal for help managing “key traffic arteries” that could be jeopardized in and around the district during demonstrations.
In the aftermath of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Washington law enforcement agencies went on high alert and institutional heads like Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin assessed the overall effectiveness—or lack thereof—of key security processes and policies in place, including the chain of command for the deployment of the Guard into Washington during a crisis.
After studying the failures of federal, state, and local agencies during the attack, the department opted to amend a 1969 rule that gave the secretary of the Army the sole authority to approve D.C. Guard requests. Austin ordered that this authority should go straight to the Defense Secretary instead.
The National Guard took more than three hours to be deployed to the Capitol on Jan. 6—and much has been made about the reasons why.
Former U.S. Capitol Police chief Steven Sund told lawmakers his request for help got lost in a sea of red tape. Robert Contee, the acting chief of police for Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, told Congress Tuesday officials from USCP, the National Guard, and Army “stunned” him when they appeared to slow-walk his demands for backup.
Other congressional testimony from senior defense officials like ex-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller have suggested there was serious internal concern that deploying troops to the Capitol might give Trump a basis to declare martial law.
The trucker protests headed to Washington now through next week could pose the first major tests to streamlined security changes made after Jan. 6.
Convoy organizers have said they plan on blocking or occupying the Beltway, a 64-mile circular stretch of highway that feeds millions in, out, and around the Capitol from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
How many D.C. Guard may be deployed if the request is approved is not yet clear. The size of the convoys is uncertain as well, though some organizers have said there will be 1,000 truckers participating. One convoy, dubbed the “People’s Convoy”, is leaving California on Wednesday before setting off across the country. Another group does not begin its trek to D.C. until March. 1.
The groups say their protests were prompted by COVID-19 restrictions and their opposition to related mandates. Girding the movement, however, is rampant conspiracy theory and xenophobia.
Temporary fencing around the Capitol is expected to go up in advance of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1, which coincides with the impending trucker-led protests.
Virginia State Police and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin told Daily Kos this week that they were monitoring the situation. Youngkin said he directed Virginia’s Transportation Department to work with local authorities to ensure “all travelers are able to make it safely through Virginia.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Metropolitan Police Department told Daily Kos it had yet to receive any permits from the convoy groups requesting permission for First Amendment activities.
On Tuesday, the National Park Service told Daily Kos it was still reviewing permit application information to determine if any convoys or affiliates had requested access to lands for demonstration.