Trucker Convoy Arrives From MD To Talk With Senators In DC

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Leaders from the truckers convoy that has circled the Capital Beltway met with U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and Ron Johnson on Tuesday, while the rest of the group plans to again stay on the road through DC, Maryland and northern Virginia.

Truckers planned to do another loop around the Capital Beltway during the meeting, which they said is scheduled for 11:15 a.m.

"We are making some progress! First meeting with DC scheduled for tomorrow," the organizers said on the convoy's official Facebook page. "Talks have begun…but we aren’t leaving until our demands are met."

Sens. Johnson of Wisconsin and Cruz of Texas said before the meeting that they would discuss President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates with the self-styled People’s Convoy at 11:15 a.m. in the Senate Visitor Center.

“They want the government to leave them the hell alone,” Cruz said after the meeting, according to WTOP. “They want the mandates ended and the emergency ended.”

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D. C.) told the Post that she hopes the group is satisfied after meeting with Cruz and Johnson.

“It looks like they understand that blocking traffic doesn’t help their cause, whatever their cause is,” Norton said to the Post's reporters. “It seems their cause has dissolved with masks coming down, and COVID no longer quite the problem it has been nationwide.”

One of the group's organizers said afterward that they aren't leaving, though.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re not going to leave. We’re going to stay put,” said Brian Brase, an organizer of the People's Convoy, according to The Washington Post. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing until we start getting more meetings like we just had today.”

The group has named vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 precautions as its main causes for the convoy.

"We just want freedom," Brase told the Washington Post. "We just want to choose."

Tuesday's route for the drivers calls for one lap around the Beltway, two vehicles wide, along 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 and back to the Hagerstown Speedway.

Authorities said Monday that there were few traffic disruptions and no reported incidents with the convoy as it circled the Capital Beltway, The Washington Post reported. D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said authorities are continuing to monitor the convoy.

Maryland State Police warned area drivers to expect more traffic on highways in and around the Maryland National Capital Region.

"While public safety remains a priority and we work to fulfill our statewide law enforcement responsibilities, the Maryland State Police respects the public’s First Amendment rights," the agency said in a statement. "Law enforcement personnel will continue to work to maintain the flow of traffic and alleviate congestion as an expected convoy makes its way to the region and to the I-495 Capital Beltway."

See the latest Maryland road conditions at http://roads.maryland.gov.

This story was updated March 8 4:17 p.m.