A convoy of semi-trucks, recreational vehicles and passenger cars making its way Sunday morning toward the Capital Beltway will have a police escort through Frederick County, Maryland.
Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins told The Washington Times that he will escort the convoy through the county because of safety concerns.
“They have a right to come through. As I understand, about 1,200 trucks are coming from Hagerstown, and that’s a lot of vehicles. It’s a safety issue,” Sheriff Jenkins said. “I just want to make sure that everything goes smoothly … We would do this for any convoy, any group going through.”
The sheriff will provide an escort from Hagerstown through Frederick County on Interstate 70 East to Interstate 270 South, which he described as “a really tricky road interchange” to keep the flow of traffic going.
A post on the convoy’s Facebook page says the truckers meet at 8 a.m. Sunday at Mike Landis’ drop deck trailer, but it does not detail when they will depart. A convoy leader reportedly estimated departure from Hagerstown at about 9:30 a.m.
The People’s Convoy, which is protesting COVID-19-related mandates, previously planned to drive into the Capital Beltway on Saturday but staged in Hagerstown a day before traveling toward Washington, D.C.
Organizers say they want to loop the Capital Beltway but not directly enter the downtown area or go near federal sites like the U.S. Capitol.
The demonstration contrasts with the Freedom Convoy of trucks that disrupted traffic in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa for weeks and obstructed major road checkpoints into the United States.
Hundreds of vehicles joined the People’s Convoy since it left Adelanto, California, on Feb. 22 on the 2,500-mile trip.
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
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