Nearly 40K Sign Up For Washington Trucker Convoy To Protest During Biden’s Address

One trucker convoy organizer has signed up nearly 40,000 people to join his march toward Washington during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1. Several other convoys are also looking to reach DC on or before Biden’s address.

Speaking with WUSA9, organizer Kyle Sefcik said his convoy, which has signed up about 38,000 people to join, will be peaceful but he reiterated that the groups want “to tell the president we’re here.” Sefcik’s Freedom Convoy USA 2022 is looking to start its march from Los Angeles on Friday before moving to the Midwest and arriving in DC on March 1.

Sefcik said the organizing stage is a means of “telling the president ahead of time to end this now,” referring to vaccine mandates. He said the goal was “to get the attention in the most peaceful way.”

When asked by WUSA9’s Tom Dempsey about how concerned people in DC should be about the massive number of truck drivers hitting the streets in protest, Sefcik said “safety-wise zero.” Sefcik did admit that in terms of travel, the convoy “could stop work for until the President says ‘Yo, it’s over.’”

Trucker Jonie Smith told the outlet that she and her husband will join a convoy in protest of COVID-related mandates even if they are both vaccinated. The couple plans to collect food and other supplies for the truck drivers traveling to DC. “It’s to try to keep everyone moving and fed along the way,” Smith said.

While truckers continue to plan their own protests as spurred by the Freedom Convoy in Canada that shut down Ottawa for weeks, law enforcement officials are also working to ensure that roads are unblocked during the expected protests. Maryland State Police said there have been threats by truck drivers to shut down the Beltway and other roads, WRC-TV reported.

Bob Bolus, who is joined by a convoy of truckers who are “challenging the high prices of fuel,” told the outlet that they are planning to shut down the Beltway as early as Wednesday. Besides skyrocketing fuel prices, Bolus said their convoy will also protest against critical race theory, vaccine mandates, and people charged over the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Capitol Police said over the weekend that they are working with the Secret Service to improve security measures in the Capitol building ahead of the president’s address. As part of the efforts to fortify security, a fence will be put up around the Capitol building next week, the Washington Examiner reported. Capitol Police are also working with the DC National Guard to establish security plans for March 1.