With truck-driving American demonstrators expected to descend on Washington, authorities are planning to erect a fence around the Capitol by the time they get there.
Fencing that was erected around the Capitol after the Jan. 6 incursion will return to the building’s perimeter in time for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech on March 1, according to Fox News.
The fencing is being put up as a convoy that seeks to replicate Canada’s “Freedom Convoy” is reportedly taking shape and preparing to head to Washington.
The Capitol Police issued a statement Friday saying the department aims to balance the need to respect the First Amendment rights of protesters as well as protect members of Congress.
“Law enforcement agencies across the National Capital Region are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, DC around the time of the State of the Union. As with any demonstration, the USCP will facilitate lawful First Amendment activity,” the statement said.
The Capitol Police are overseen by a board currently chaired by the sergeant at arms of the House of Representatives. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi taken extraordinary steps to make sure the events of Jan. 6 are not forgotten in the Capitol.
The District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department is also preparing for the truckers, according to Roll Call.
Police are “aware of potential First Amendment activities that may take place in the National Capital Region, including Washington, D.C.,” MPD spokesman Hugh Carew said, according to Roll Call.
Carew said no permit application had been submitted as of last Friday.
Capitol fence to be reinstalled ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address https://t.co/NRk68bweKc
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 20, 2022
MPD has “increased available resources, including the activation of our Civil Disturbance Units, in preparation for these activities,” Carew said.
If what’s being bandied about comes to fruition, a group of truckers calling itself “The People’s Convoy,” will head east along Interstate 40 from Barstow, California, beginning Wednesday, according to Newsmax.
Although the convoy’s presumed endpoint is Washington, D.C., no official word has been given. So far, other than stops in Arizona and Texas, the convoy has not advertised its plans.
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“We have well over 1,000 truckers. I’ve lost count right now and I know it’s going to grow,” organizer Maureen Steele told Newsmax’s Eric Bolling on Thursday.
“Our support staff is enormous. We have the Unity Project … and they have hundreds of nonprofits that are under them, so we literally have thousands of people helping pull this event off. So, it’s a huge undertaking, as you can imagine, getting all these trucks and these people across the country and managing safety and logistics and all of that, and comms. It’s an enormous group of people.
“I know Canada had hundreds. We have thousands,” she said.
First MASSIVE victory for the Truck Convoy — the Illegitimate Biden Regime forced to put up barbed-wire fence around Capitol @peoplesconvoy#illegitimatebidenregime #peoplesconvoy #freedomconvoy #truckersforfreedom #freedom #bannonswarroom https://t.co/9SRnCDkixQ Gettr
— Dana Sleeper (@SleeperDana) February 20, 2022
And even if the American effort has a different name from the Canadian protesters “Freedom Convoy,” Steele made it clear that “freedom” was what the U.S. protesters are protecting.
“Freedom isn’t free. Now is our time as Americans to make sure that we ensure freedom for our future generations, and we are doing it lawfully. We have the right to gather, we have the right to protest, we’re not going to be violating any laws.
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“If there’s other rogue convoys that are unlawful, that is not ours,” she said.
Steele told Newsmax the effort is very focused on staying with the law and all rules of the road. She said the convoy will have advance teams “just to check in with law enforcement in towns ahead of the convoy, that if we’re going to be marshaling there that evening, to make sure they’re prepared for a massive convoy to roll into town.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.