Trucker Convoy Driving From MD For More Loops Around DC Beltway

MARYLAND — A convoy of truckers, big rigs, pickup trucks, SUVs and sedans returned to the Capital Beltway Monday to protest government mandates after making a loop around the interstate on Sunday. But the group appeared to make progress in their goal to talk with political leaders about COVID restrictions they view as overreach.

The convoy planned to drive in the right lane from Hagerstown to Washington, D.C., before returning to western Maryland. Organizers warn protests will ramp up if they are ignored by Congress.

Protest organizers said the demonstration is a way to hold politicians accountable for the government’s pandemic responses, especially workplace vaccination mandates. The Washington Post reported convoy leaders will meet Tuesday with Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) on Capitol Hill with convoy members.

Participants met at the Hagerstown Speedway Monday morning, where it has been staging for the past several days. Hagerstown is about 60 miles from the Maryland portion of the Capital Beltway. The convoy arrived near the nation's capital by early afternoon.

"Plan ahead for higher volumes of traffic in and around the Maryland National Capital Region today," the Maryland State Highway Administration advised Monday morning.

The convoy was still on I-270 south and had not yet reached the Capital Beltway around 12:30 p.m., WTOP reported. The group included about half the number of those who participated in Sunday's demonstration.

Once on I-495, the convoy planned to drive in the two right lanes and make a single loop.

About 1,000 vehicles participated in the convoy on Sunday, according to the Washington Post. Its supporters said they were not trying to shut down D.C. or contest coronavirus vaccines.

"We just want freedom," Brian Brase, one organizer of the People's Convoy, told the Post. "We just want to choose."

The governor of a nearby state is hoping to meet with the convoy participants to show his support, Brase said. He did not name the governor because the plans have not been finalized.

He told the Post the convoy participants also hope to have a dialogue with members of Congress who can help "get what we're looking for pushed through in a timely fashion."

Said Brase: "If they don't come to the table to meet with us or they ignore us, then every day it will escalate."

Modeled after the Freedom Convoy that blockaded downtown Ottawa for three weeks in protest of vaccine mandates in Canada, the People's Convoy aims to end the federal proclamation of a national emergency due to COVID-19. Some members embarked from California on Feb. 23 on a cross-country trip that is now culminating near D.C.

"Hey DC, if you weren’t sure from yesterday just how BIG we are, here’s your chance to get a second look!" the People's Convoy Facebook administrator Kris Young posted Monday morning. "Oh and PS, we are growing by the minute!! Not all trucks were sent out this morning. Stay tuned…We will hold the line! YOU WORK FOR US!"

The Virginia Department of Transportation issued an alert Monday morning about the protest convoy: "Heads Up, Friends! There's expected to be increased commercial and passenger vehicle traffic on the Beltway today starting midmorning time."

Once it travels around the Capital Beltway, the group plans to take I-495 back to I-270 north to I-70 west to I-81 north to exit 5B for Halfway Boulevard/Hagerstown.

Drivers can hit the AC & T Travel Center to refuel before getting back on I-81 north to exit 6B/US 40 before ending up at the Hagerstown Speedway.

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

Did you see the convoy in Maryland? Tell us in the comments!

Patch editor Mark Hand contributed to this report.