Nancy Pelosi says she's 'monitoring' freedom trucker convoy heading to DC

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 'closely monitoring' trucker convoys planning protests against pandemic restrictions in Washington, DC, ahead of President Biden's State of the Union address next week. 

'We are monitoring the situation closely but deferred to the USCP, which is in charge of security,' senior staffer and spokesman for Pelosi, Drew Hammill, told Fox. 

Some convoys are scheduled to arrive in time for Biden's State of the Union address next Tuesday, March 1, though others may arrive afterward.

As a preemptive measure, Capitol Police has scheduled officers on 12-hour shifts, with plans to reinstall the fencing that surrounded the Capitol complex last year. Democrats, mainly Pelosi, insisted the fencing was a needed precaution following the January 6 riot.

The Pentagon is reportedly considering sending the National Guard to the capital.

The convoys follow the recent Canadian truckers' protest which shut down the busiest US-Canada border crossing and besieged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks to protest government pandemic restrictions. The multiple blockades were broken up by police last week, with more than 100 arrests.

Separate truck convoys have been planned in the US through online forums with names like the People's Convoy and the American Truckers Freedom Fund - all with different starting points, departure dates and routes. 

The protests could become the biggest security threat in DC since the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.   

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation's capital, a US official said Tuesday 

The District of Columbia government and the US Capitol Police are also requesting the National Guard assistance. 

The troops would be used largely to help control traffic and are expected to come from the district's National Guard and three states, said the official.

'The United States Capitol Police and the United States Secret Service have been closely working together to plan for the upcoming State of the Union,' the US Capitol Police said Friday. 'The temporary inner-perimeter fence is part of those ongoing discussions and remains an option, however at this time no decision has been made.'

If approved, the The DC National Guard can supply up to 400 troops. 

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said Friday that his department was closely monitoring the shifting information and would be devoting additional police manhours in a rolling state of alert over the next few weeks.  

'There will be disruptions to traffic, that kind of thing,' Contee said. 'I think we need to be very candid with the public about what some of the expectations, based upon what we've seen in Ottawa, that we might see here in the District.'

Contee called the Ottawa standoff, 'an incredible situation - one that we have not seen here in the District of Columbia.'

Contee and Mayor Muriel Bowser predicted unrest several days before the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol Building.  

They warned residents to stay indoors and called for additional resources, but the Capitol Police and National Guard were still caught unprepared when crowds of Trump supporters overran the building, resulting in several deaths and numerous injuries.

Lingering memories of that debacle have fueled a heightened sense of anxiety and speculation over the coming convoys. But Bowser said she wasn't yet warning residents to avoid the Capitol area or the National Mall.

'We're not at a point to give specific instructions to residents just yet. We will,' Bowser said. 

It remains to be seen if any of the U.S. convoys would seek to actively shut down Washington's streets, the way their Canadian counterparts did in Ottawa. Some convoy organizers have spoken of plans to briefly roll through the city, then focus on shutting down the Beltway, which encircles the capital. 

A statement from the People's Convoy specifically says the trucks 'will NOT be going into DC proper.' That convoy is planning to embark Wednesday from southern California and arrive in DC around March 5.

The US convoys seek an immediate lifting of what they say are heavy-handed government pandemic restrictions like mask mandates and vaccine requirements. The American Truckers Freedom Fund website says the group is protesting 'the unscientific, unconstitutional overreach of the federal government.'  

People's Convoy organizer Mike Landis, in a video testimonial on the group's website, said the current COVID vaccine 'is not proven yet' but supported individual choice on whether to take it or not. 

Landis said the convoy was open to all vehicles and said the primary goal was to pressure Biden to lift the national state of emergency.

'We want this government to bring back the Constitution,' Landis said. 'We do not want to be under a dictatorship communism-style regime, like where we are right now.'

Press secretary John Kirby said Tuesday that The Pentagon has been asked to help manage the protests by deploying the National Guard. 

'The Department is analyzing a request for assistance from the US Capitol Police and the DC Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency,' Kirby said in a statement. 

'Those agencies have asked for National Guard personnel to provide support at traffic control points in and around the District to help the USCP [U.S. Capitol Police] and D.C. government address potential challenges stemming from possible disruptions at key traffic arteries.' 

Although it's not clear how many people will participate in the protests, it could number in the thousands, Fox News reported. 

Those leading the movement have requested a National Park Service permit that could accommodate up to 3,000 truckers in DC, according to the report.  

The fencing erection around the Capitol comes as anxiety over security on Capitol Hill continues following the January 6, 2021 attack that saw a handful killed and dozens to hundreds injured in the midst of Congress certifying the 2020 presidential election results.  

The fencing remained in place for most of 2021, giving rise to Republican criticism and claims that Democrats were trying to create a barrier between government and the people. 

The United States Capitol Police said it is working with several law enforcement agencies in the area as well as the D.C. National Guard to secure the complex before Biden's first State of the Union on March 1.  

Some participants have already laid out the ruthless approaches they'll take to making their voices heard in Washington. 

Bob Bolus, who's leading a fleet of transports from Pennsylvania to Washington on Wednesday, plans to help shut down the Capital Beltway on Friday in protest of vaccine mandates, pandemic-related restrictions and more. 

The 64-mile road - whose formal name is the I-495 - encircles the capital, and is its most vital ground transportation link. One lane will be left open for emergency vehicles, but Bolus has said 'tough luck' to commuters. 

'The Beltway will be shut down,' Bolus told Fox News. 'I'll give you an analogy of that of a giant boa constrictor that basically squeezes you, chokes you, and then swallows you. And that's what we're going to do to D.C.' 

'We will not

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