The second week of demonstrations from the People’s Convoy finally found their way into the streets of Washington, D.C., on Monday.
“Today we’re getting right next to their walls,” said Mike Landis, a People’s Convoy co-organizer. “We’re not going to go in and throat-punch them just yet, even though I know we would all love to do that.”
Police blocked interstate exits into downtown Washington as hundreds of trucks, cars and SUVs made their way into the nation’s capital for the first time since the convoys have gathered at Hagerstown since March 4.
The convoy entered the city via the 14th Street Bridge on Interstate 395 amid a near-standstill, then continued to Interstate 695 before crossing the Anacostia River and returning to the Beltway.
As a four-mile stretch crawled along in the middle of the day, one trucker posted to a private YouTube video, “I believe we’re making a good statement today. We’re right in the swamp now and creating a horrible mess down here.”
Some truckers compared it to the Battle of Jericho — the biblical conflict in which the city’s walls fell to the sound of trumpets after being circled by an Israelite army for seven days.
One trucker posted his own livestream as he got out of his truck to confront another driver and punched the window of the vehicle.
The People’s Convoy had also hoped to hold a nearly two-week permitted trucker protest on the National Mall starting Monday, but the application was partially denied because of other events already booked during that time frame.
The National Parks Service was working with the convoy to produce another date and location when the People’s Convoy withdrew that application Sunday night. The application submitted by organizer Brian Brase did not include enough information for the Park Service to evaluate it.
It’s unclear whether the convoy will bring another protest into D.C. or attempt another permitted demonstration in the future.
WaPo and Daily Beast
