Capitol Police prepare for possible vax protest

It could be D.C.’s turn to deal with trucker protests against COVID-19 measures soon.

Washington, D.C., law enforcement agencies have asked the Pentagon for assistance ahead of President Biden’s first State of the Union address next week, an event expected to coincide with truck convoy protests.

The U.S. Capitol Police and the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency asked for D.C. National Guard personnel “to provide support at traffic control points in and around the District to help … address potential challenges stemming from possible disruptions at key traffic arteries,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement Tuesday.

Kirby said the Defense Department is “analyzing” the requests but “no decisions have been made yet” on whether to approve them.

Military Times was the first to report on the requests, with National Guard troops notified of a potential activation between Feb. 22 and March 7 or later, according to internal directives obtained by the outlet.

The guardsmen, if activated, would provide vehicles and personnel at “43 critical blocking positions 24/7,” Military Times reported.

D.C. law enforcement agencies have said since last week that they have received reports of truck drivers potentially planning to block roads in major metropolitan cities in the United States in protest of, among other things, vaccine mandates. These plans follow similar protests and blockades formed by Canadian truck drivers in the past month.