National Guard Deployed As DC, NoVA Prepare For Trucker Protests

WASHINGTON, DC/VA — The Department of Defense approved requests for the National Guard to help with traffic flow in Washington, D.C., as truckers and their allies plan protests in the next few days against pandemic restrictions and other government policies.

Many COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in the D.C. area and across the United States, leading the protesters to pivot to other grievances such as rising fuel prices, trucking regulations and immigration for their planned protests in the D.C. area.

Organizers are calling for truck drivers to travel to the D.C. area, with the stated goal to either enter and occupy D.C. or stage a blockade of the Capital Beltway. The demonstrations protesting pandemic restrictions and other issues are inspired by truck driver protests in Canada.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the National Guard request Tuesday from the D.C. government and the U.S. Capitol Police, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday night.

The troops would be used to assist with traffic control during demonstrations expected in the city in the coming days, the Defense Department said. Four hundred National Guard members from the District of Columbia Guard will be joined by 300 Guard members from other states.

"The people who live, work and visit the District are part of our community, and their safety is our first mission priority," Major General Sherrie McCandless, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, said in a statement. "Our MPD and USCP partners have asked for our help in ensuring people can demonstrate peacefully and safely, and we stand ready to assist."

A number of competing groups are organizing similar events over the next week. The Bob Bolus Towers & Truckers for America Group was scheduled to leave Scranton, Pennsylvania, Wednesday morning. The goal of the group is to drive around the Beltway, potentially shutting it down. Bolus claims between 1,000 and 1,500 trucks have contacted him.

The organizer, Bob Bolus, warned local residents who are heading to work to expect traffic disruptions from his convoy. “As far as if they can't get to work, geez that's too bad,” Bolus told Fox5.

Another group, Freedom Convoy USA, plans to drive to D.C. on Interstate 66 and I-495. The group claims 1,000 truckers are expected to participate. A third group, the People’s Convoy, is expected to arrive in the D.C. area on Saturday, March 5.

Local officials are warning residents that the convoys could cause dramatic increases in traffic and other general disruptions.

The Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, plans to work with the trucker convoys, providing support “like a military operation” as the convoys make their way to the D.C. area.

“January 6th has made this situation in the United States more challenging and scarier,” Victor Asal, director of the Center for Policy Research at the University at Albany, State University of New York, told The Washington Post, in reference to predicting far-right threats. “We still don’t know how many trucks and truckers are actually going to follow through and I don’t think we are going to know that at least for several more days.”

This article originally appeared on the Falls Church Patch