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Could anti-vaccine mandate truckers disrupt the Super Bowl?

The Ottawa truckers controversy may move into the United States

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Trucks heading to Canada are stuck in heavy traffic.

Trucks heading to Canada are stuck in heavy traffic after they were diverted to the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich., on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, after the Ambassador Bridge was closed due to Canadian anti-vaccine protests. There is some concern the protests could move to the U.S. and possibly disrupt Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press via Associated Press

The Department of Homeland Security is preparing for a potential anti-vaccine mandate convoy of truckers — like the ones we’re seeing in Ottawa — to cause disruption across the United States in the coming days, per Yahoo News.

  • In fact, the DHS is especially worried an anti-vaccine mandate convoy could begin on Febb. 13, which is Super Bowl Sunday.

What they’re saying: “The convoy will potentially begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, D.C., as late as mid-March, potentially impacting the Super Bowl LVI scheduled for 13 February and the State of the Union Address scheduled for 1 March,” according to a leaked bulletin from the DHS, per The Daily Beast.

  • The document also said that the the convoy could severely disrupt transportation, federal government, and law enforcement operations through gridlock and potential counterprotests.”
  • One DHS official told Yahoo News: “They are definitely going to follow the Canadian model and shut down Washington.”

What’s happening: The “Freedom Convoy” — the so-called convoy of anti-vaccine mandate Canadian truckers and their supporters — recently ventured to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada, and blocked the U.S.-Canadian border, as I wrote for the Deseret News.

  • Ottawa declared a state of emergency over the protests.
  • The protesters have blocked the Ambassador Bridge — which connects Detroit in the U.S., and Windsor, a city in Ontario, Canada — which has caused delays, shortages and delivery issues, the Deseret News’ Gitanjali Poonia writes.
  • Republicans in the U.S. have expressed support over the protests.

The bottom line: Anti-vaccine mandate trucker protests could start this weekend in the United States given the support for them and the warnings from the DHS.