About 100 Vermont National Guard soldiers are headed to Washington to help provide security operations during what are expected to be protests against COVID-19 restrictions by some truckers, the guard announced on Wednesday.
The Vermonters are part of a deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for the convoys of truckers that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.
The duties that could be carried out by the Vermonters could include observance, monitoring and restricting of any truck traffic at designated posts.
The Vermont Guard says officials worked with Gov. Phil Scott to ensure Vermont could help with the mission without affecting the guard’s COVID-19 response.
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The convoys expected in Washington follow the recent Canadian truckers’ protest that shut down the busiest U.S. Canadian 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.
