Covid-19 Live Updates: Mask Mandates, Restrictions and Vaccines - The New York Times

VideoThe group of truckers, called the People’s Convoy, traveled from California and could move into Washington to hold protests against pandemic restrictions.CreditCredit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A group of truckers protesting Covid-19 mandates started to encircle the nation’s capital on Sunday morning, aiming to garner attention from lawmakers by driving the minimum speed limit and slowing traffic outside of the city.

The convoy of truckers had planned to loop Interstate 495, known as the Capital Beltway, two times on Sunday before returning to a staging area in Maryland, with plans to potentially repeat the demonstration in the coming days.

Although the convoy had originally planned to enter Washington, D.C., organizers said they did not intend to drive into the capital on Sunday out of fears that “outside agitators” may turn it into a chaotic event reminiscent of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. They also wanted to avoid confrontation with police.

The main caravan of truckers, the People’s Convoy, first departed from Adelanto, Calif., more than a week ago with plans to end their demonstration in Washington. For the past two days, the truckers have been rallying at a racetrack in nearby Hagerstown, Md., about 70 miles northwest of the capital, converging with other drivers and their supporters.

Christopher Rodriguez, director of the District of Columbia Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, had said the convoy had signaled that it was planning to stay outside the city. If the protesters did enter Washington, the authorities would be ready for them, he said.

“We’ve been planning for this for over a month now,” Mr. Rodriguez said, adding that National Guard members were stationed around the city with personnel, equipment and heavy vehicles.

“In the event we do see impact in the district, those personnel and equipment can help move traffic through with the support of the Metropolitan Police Department,” he said.

The People’s Convoy was one of several groups inspired by the Canadian protests against pandemic measures that disrupted the capital of Ottawa for three weeks. The American groups said they, too, would drive to Washington to lead a nonpartisan, grassroots protest of government Covid policies, but many appeared to be aligned with far-right organizations and activists.

Their demands have been undercut by the reality that many U.S. states have already started rolling back restrictions as virus cases and deaths have ebbed. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance in late February suggesting that 70 percent of Americans could stop wearing masks.

With the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, still fresh on the minds of many, officials had ramped up security around the Capitol in recent days ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday, erecting a fence around the Capitol, dispatching National Guard troops and positioning military vehicles and police cars at strategic locations on streets near Congress.

Mr. Rodriguez confirmed that the fencing around the Capitol had since been taken down by federal authorities.

Another group called the Freedom Convoy that quit its journey to Washington last week after only five trucks remained claimed to have a permit to demonstrate at the Washington Monument on Tuesday afternoon before the president’s speech. City officials said only a few protesters showed up.

A National Guard spokesman confirmed this week that approximately 700 soldiers from the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Vermont and West Virginia National Guards were in the city and that their mission was scheduled to end at midnight on Monday.