An organizer of one of multiple US trucker convoys that are getting ready to descend on DC says they will be like a “giant boa constrictor,” that “squeezes you, chokes you and it swallows you, and that’s what we’re going to do to DC.”
Bob Bolus, who owns a truck parts and towing business in Scranton, Pennsylvania, says that they are protesting a range of issues including fuel prices and vaccine mandates.
Organizers of one convoy, called the “People’s Convoy,” claim that they have 1,000 truckers ready to participate “right out the gate,” but believe it will likely grow as it moves from California to DC.
Bolus says his group is planning to stay “a day or two.”
“We will be along the Beltway where the Beltway will be shut down,” Bolus said in an interview with Fox 5 on Sunday.
“I’ll give you an analogy of that of a giant boa constrictor,” Bolus said. “That basically squeezes you, chokes you and it swallows you, and that’s what we’re going to do to DC.”
The reporter asked Bolus if he understood the “impact on those trying to get to work and the risk to those in need of emergency responders.”
“There will be a lane open for emergency vehicles, they’ll be able to get in and out and all that,” Bolus replied. “We will not compromise anybody’s safety or health, one way or the other. As far as if they can’t get to work, geez that’s too bad.”
According to a Rasmussen poll published last week, the majority of Americans say that they would support a trucker protest in the US.
The Capitol Police have issued a statement saying that they are upping security around DC ahead of truck convoys — which are expected to arrive in the city around the time of Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address.
The State of the Union is scheduled to take place on March 1.
The department said that they are coordinating with other agencies, including the Secret Service and National Guard.
“Law enforcement agencies across the National Capital Region are aware of plans for a series of truck convoys arriving in Washington, DC around the time of the State of the Union. As with any demonstration, the USCP will facilitate lawful First Amendment activity,” Capitol Police said in a statement on Friday.
“The USCP is closely coordinating with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including DC’s Metropolitan Police Department, the United States Park Police, the United States Secret Service and other allied agencies to include the DC National Guard,” the statement continued.
The department “has received reports of truck drivers potentially planning to block roads in major metropolitan cities in the United States in protest of, among other things, vaccine mandates. The convoy will potentially begin in California early as mid-February, potentially impacting the Super Bowl scheduled for 13 February and the State of the Union address scheduled for 1 March,” according to a memo obtained by The Hill on Feb. 9.