Nancy Pelosi 'confident' in Capitol security ahead of State of the Union address

With US President Joe Biden set to make his State of the Union address to Congress next week, security measures are being put in place. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence in the security in the Capitol as Washington braces for trucker protests.

Pelosi said Wednesday that she is confident in the Capitol security ahead of anticipated trucker protests that may derail DC when Biden makes his State of the Union address on March 1. The House Speaker’s comments come as the Pentagon approved a request from the US Capitol Police and DC officials Tuesday to deploy the National Guard troops to redirect traffic.

According to the Associated Press, 400 National Guard members will be with 300 additional National Guard members from other states to further bolster security in the area.

The organizers of the trucker convoy cited the trucker protests in Canada that were able to gridlock Ottawa for weeks as what they hoped to achieve in DC. The People’s Convoy is looking to unite a transcontinental movement that will arrive in the capital on March 5, days after Biden’s address. However, there may be other protests occurring on the day of Biden’s address.

The organizers also said that the convoy would be “law-abiding” as it will call to end all the mandates.

Despite the trucker protests in Canada, the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection is still present on Capitol Hill, which has been closed to the public for more than a year since the riots that left five people dead and dozens injured.

Pelosi also condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Vladimir Putin not only declared the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states but also declared military operations within. Putin has later called for a full-scale invasion through the land, air, and sea.

“It’s stunning to see, in this day and age, a tyrant roll into a country. This is the same tyrant who attacked our democracy in 2016,” said Pelosi, referring to the 2016 elections.

“This is the same tyrant who is opposed to democracy and wants to trivialize it, to downgrade it, in the eyes of the Russian people,” Pelosi continued.