A convoy of trucks protested along D.C. area highways Monday morning, briefly blocking off traffic on I-270 and I-95, say they are actually a group "comprised of nurses, teachers, carpenters, plumbers, engineers, legal professionals, veterans, homemakers, and more."
The group, 1776 Restoration Movement, say they are "not just truck drivers. We are Constitutional-Republic activists who did a convoy today as part of our peaceful protest."
They sent 7News an email Tuesday, a day after Maryland State Police said they responded to two traffic incidents around 8:15 a.m. on the Fourth of July involving truck convoys. State police said one group of truckers blocked I-270 just before I-370 and another group blocked southbound I-95 just south of route 198. No arrests were made.
D.C. police also monitored a group of truckers along I-395.
"Expect heavy traffic, delays and road closures along inbound 395 from Virginia into Washington, D.C. due to the trucker convoy," D.C. police traffic tweeted.
At 12:31 p.m., D.C. police tweeted the truckers were no longer in the area.
1776 Restoration Movement said they cooperated with law enforcement during their peaceful protest.
"Three out of the four groups were allowed to complete our 30 minutes of peaceful protest. Law enforcement only asked one of the groups to end their protest early, which we complied to readily and peacefully," the group told 7News Tuesday.
A different group of truckers, known as The People's Convoy, came to the D.C. area back in March to protest federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates before heading to protest in California. They returned to D.C. again in May -- At the time, police blocked the truckers from entering the city. They used garbage trucks and other heavy-duty equipment to control traffic near the ramps.
Traffic was expected to be heavy in D.C. as people descend upon the National Mall for July 4th events and fireworks.