One to three thousand people intend to gather near the Washington Monument on Tuesday, March 1, for a rally to oppose vaccine mandates and support trucker convoys in Canada.
The application to the National Park Service was made by Kyle Sefcik, an MMA fighter and independent candidate for governor in Maryland as well as an organizer of the Freedom Convoy USA 2022, which intends to arrive in DC on March 1. (The KNK Foundation of Gaithersburg, of which IRS records show Sefcik is the principal, will be in charge of the event.) Other convoys are making their way to this region around the same time.
According to the application, the organizers expect several thousand people to join them at the Sylvan Theater for what they describe as “Peaceful Demonstration/Assembly! Christian Music/Speakers against mandates. Support of Convoys in Canada. lifting mandates in DC/USA.”
Washington, DC, ended its vaccination mandate on February 15, and its indoor mask mandate is scheduled to expire on March 1.
The paperwork displays a somewhat libertarian attitude toward NPS queries about a planned event: Under a section asking which functions will be performed by marshals or volunteers, the applicants wrote “Do we need them?” It says volunteers from the foundation will be available “if there is any mess.”
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the US Department of Defense has OK’d the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops in response to requests from DC and the US Capitol Police for help with the trucker convoys that are planned for DC next week. March 1 is also the date of President Biden’s State of the Union address. The US Capitol Police have said it’s possible they may restore temporary fencing around the Capitol as they plan for next week’s events.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
