Police close freeway exits in U.S. capital amid drive-by demonstration

Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

Over the past ten days, the truckers and other drivers have circled the Capital Beltway that surrounds Washington, D.C. multiple times to protest mask and vaccine mandates.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Xinhua) -- Police closed "a number of freeway exits" in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon, as a convoy of truckers were driving through the area in protest of COVID-19 measures.

The police tweeted the move is intended to "keep traffic moving safely," writing that "these rolling road closures are occurring in real-time as they are needed, and will be lifted as soon as they are no longer."

In an earlier tweet, the police asked motorists to expect traffic delays, as well as demonstration activity on highways in and around the U.S. capital.

A handful of vehicles believed to be part of the so-called People's Convoy reportedly made it into downtown Washington, D.C. on Wednesday afternoon.

Trucks and other cars gather during a truck convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions in Hagerstown, Maryland, the United States, on March 6, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

The People's Convoy has camped outside a speedway in Hagerstown, a city in Washington County, the state of Maryland, since early March.

Over the past ten days, the truckers and other drivers have circled the Capital Beltway that surrounds Washington, D.C. multiple times to protest mask and vaccine mandates.

Their activities, a spinoff from protests in Canada staged by truckers upset with vaccine requirements earlier this year, have drawn both support and criticism across the United States.

U.S. states and cities are lifting restrictions against COVID-19 but the protesters have also called for an end to the national emergency concerning the pandemic.