Trucker convoy opposing COVID-19 mandates hits the road to D.C.

(KYMA, KECY/ AP News) - A small convoy of truckers demanding an end to Coronavirus mandates began a cross-country drive from California to the Washington, D.C. area on Wednesday.

Several hundred people rallied in a parking lot in the Mojave Desert town of Adelanto before about two dozen trucks and a number of other vehicles hit the road.

Convoy vehicles carried signs with slogans such as “Legalize Freedom” and “Let Them Breathe.”

It was one of several U.S. convoys organized online and modeled on the recent Canadian truckers’ protests that shut down U.S.-Canadian border crossings and besieged the streets of the capital, Ottawa, for weeks.

The Adelanto group called it “The People’s Convoy” and has pledged a “100% safe, lawful and peaceful journey” on its way to D.C.

Meanwhile, The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital as it prepares for multiple trucker convoys. The troops would be used to assist with traffic control during the demonstrations.