DHS has added staff to its Incident Command Post near Los Angeles, ahead of the Super Bowl. As part of the standard operating procedure, over 500 DHS personnel provide maritime and air security resources.
CBS News obtained the bulletin. It states that the convoy could head east, possibly reaching Washington, D.C., in time for President Biden’s State of the Union address March 1.
Bulletin warns that convoy could “severely disrupt transportation, federal government and law enforcement operations through gridlock or potential counterprotests.”
This warning comes as the trucker demonstration in Canada starts to affect production at U.S. auto plant that are short of parts.
According to the bulletin, the DHS has received reports that truck drivers are planning to block major roads in major American cities. This is in protest at, among others, the imposition of vaccines on truck drivers.
“The convoy could begin in California as early in February and arrive in Washington DC as late in March. This could potentially have an impact on the Super Bowl LVI and the State of the Union addresses scheduled for 1 March.
“While there is no evidence of planned violence at this time, hundreds of trucks could congregate in major metropolitan cities to disrupt transportation, federal government operations, commercial facilities, and emergency services by creating gridlock or potential counter protests.
According to law enforcement sources, the group plans to travel from California to Washington, D.C., gathering truckers along the way. It is also possible that truckers from Canada could join the Washington, D.C. event.”
Yahoo News first reported the warning to law enforcement across the country on Tuesday.
Officials from the White House said that they are closely monitoring the situation at the U.S./Canada border. The White House stated that they are primarily focused on the resolution of the blockage at Ambassador Bridge and other ports of entry.
On Thursday, the Windsor Detroit Ambassador Bridge was closed. However, Port Huron is now fully operational.
White House officials claim that the Cabinet and senior White House staff were involved round the clock to end this situation.
Officials from the White House stated that they spoke to their Canadian counterparts on Thursday morning. They urged them to use federal powers and to solve this problem at our joint border. We also offered our full support to our Homeland Security and Transportation departments.
The U.S. and Canadian border authorities have been working together with great urgency to ensure that goods and services continue to flow across the international border. They are leveraging alternate land routes as well as air- and sea routes. Jody Thomas, the Canadian Homeland Security advisor, will be speaking with Liz Sherwood Randall on Thursday evening.
The Department of Homeland Security was informed by reports of a similar Freedom Convoy event in Washington D.C. early March. It is now taking all steps to ensure the convoy doesn’t disrupt lawful trade and transport or interfere with federal government, law enforcement operations and emergency services. DHS has not yet received any indications that anyone involved is engaged in any other than First Amendment-protected activity.
Thursday’s statement by the Michigan Governor called on Canadian authorities to open the passageway. Whitmer stated, “My message is clear: reopen traffic at the bridge.”
“The Ambassador Bridge is North America’s busiest land border crossing, with tens of thousands of commuters using it every day and truck drivers transporting hundreds of millions of goods. She said that many Michiganders depend on this daily flow in goods and people to get their jobs done.
