Capitol fencing returns for Biden's State of the Union address

Fencing, which had been erected following Jan. 6, 2021 riot, to be reinstalled as truckers plan protests in D.C.
National Guard and fencing security measures at U.S. Capitol
By Aaron Kliegman

Fencing will be reinstalled around the U.S. Capitol next week as a security precaution for President Biden's State of the Union address on March 1.

The Capitol grounds were previously fenced off and guarded with a major police and military presence for six months following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Similar security fencing is now being put back up as U.S. Capitol Police brace for a potential protest to come to Washington, D.C., similar to the ones that have made headlines in Canada, Fox News reported.

For more than three weeks, the so-called Freedom Convoy truckers have blocked roads in downtown Ottawa in protest of Canada's COVID-19 mandates. Canadian authorities began last week cracking down on the blockade by arresting some demonstrators and freezing their bank accounts.

Another blockade temporarily blocked the busy Ambassador Bridge border crossing between Windsor and Detroit before being resolved peacefully.

Inspired by the Canadian demonstrations, the Great American Patriot Project, a group of U.S. trucker convoys, has been forming protests against COVID-19 restrictions in several American cities. The group has also encouraged truckers to join convoys in the nation's capital.

U.S. Capitol Police said Friday that it plans to "facilitate lawful First Amendment activity" and to prepare for the trucker convoys to arrive around the time of Biden's address.

"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 Capitol Police also said.

Maureen Steele, who's helped organize the American protest dubbed "The People's Convoy," told Newsmax that about 1,000 trucks are expected to depart from California this week and head to D.C.

"This is about our rights, as well as the freedom of future generations," convoy organizers wrote on Facebook," she said. "It's not about political parties, but more so about a government that has forgotten its place and has no regard for our founding fathers' instructions."