A trucker convoy is on the road again, heading toward the Capital Beltway to drive in circles as the group’s leaders met with two Republican senators to discuss vaccine mandates Tuesday. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Ted Cruz of Texas said they’d discuss President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates with the People’s Convoy in the Senate Visitor Center. “They want the government to leave them the hell alone,” Cruz said after. “They want the mandates ended and the emergency ended.” “I gotta tell you, there are a whole lot of politicians in this building that aren’t listening,” Cruz continued. Convoy organizer Brian Brase said the effort doesn’t come from any particular political point of view. “There are Democrats, there are Republicans there are independents there are libertarians. There are people that don’t affiliate with either party,” he said. The convoy has been circling D.C. in protest of COVID-19 restrictions. Most of those mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in recent weeks.
While convoy leaders talked with senators, the rest of the convoy will repeat its pattern of circling Interstate 495, according to a post on the convoy’s Facebook page. At 11:08 a.m., WTOP Traffic reported the trucks were on Interstate 270 and that at times, traffic was very slow. I-270 south was facing delays coming out of Frederick because the convoy was blocking the center lane.
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WTOP’s John Domen said some drivers told him that they were only going to go around the Beltway once Tuesday.
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It isn’t clear how many vehicles are participating in the convoy on Tuesday. The convoy is made up of trucks and other vehicles and caused some choke points and occasional congestion on Sunday. WTOP Traffic reported there weren’t nearly as many participants Monday. The group mostly traveled in the center lanes of the Beltway on Sunday and Monday. WTOP Traffic reported that once the participating vehicles got onto Interstate 495, some got separated from the group. Police in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. have been coordinating to ensure the convoy does not block traffic. In D.C., Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton said she had been briefed on the convoy situation by U.S. Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. “As of now, they apparently do not plan to disrupt regular business inside D.C., instead planning to drive several laps around the Beltway at 45-55 miles per hour and bus some representatives into the District to meet with members of Congress. … As the situation could change, I will continue monitoring closely to ensure D.C. residents are kept safe,” Norton said in a statement. Organizers have two demands. They want an end to the National State of Emergency issued by former President Donald Trump on March 13, 2020, and extended by Biden, which led to mandates. Protesters also want Congress to investigate the government’s handling of the pandemic. The convoy’s website says they want to “Restore Our Nation’s Constitution,” though what the Constitution has to do with the U.S. COVID-19 response is unclear. Mandatory vaccination, for example, has been constitutional for more than 100 years. A donations tracker said that as of March 6, the convoy has raised $1.6 million of its $5 million goal. Donations to the convoy are being fielded through an organization that was founded last year, the American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedom. The foundation’s executive director, Pamela Milacek, is being investigated for allegedly violating the terms of her community supervision after pleading guilty to felony fraud and exploitation charges in 2020, The Washington Post reports.
Tuesday’s route
According to the group’s Facebook, the convoy will travel on this route Tuesday, starting at the Hagerstown Speedway:
- Route 40 east to Route 63 south, to Interstate 70 east to Interstate 270 to Interstate 495 to Interstate 270 to Interstate 70 to Route 63 north to Route 40 west back to the Hagerstown Speedway.
WTOP’s Mitchell Miller and Will Vitka contributed to this report.
