Dozens, not thousands, show up for DC trucker protest

A trucker protest aimed at clogging the Capital Beltway around Washington to protest government "corruption" was not shaping up to be quite the commuter nightmare organizers had threatened.

As of Friday morning, dozens of tractor-trailers were said to be on the road as part of the protest convoy.

Virginia state police say they stopped four tractor-trailer drivers on the Beltway, pulling them over after they began driving side-by side across all four northbound lanes of the Beltway in Fairfax County.

Their actions slowed traffic to about 15 mph. Officers warned the drivers not to impede traffic and did not write any tickets.

Police say a convoy of about 30 trucks began traveling north on Interstate 95 from Doswell, Va., on Friday morning. The truckers are circling the Beltway.

However, the presence was not quite the thousands of truckers that organizers had predicted. On Friday morning, just a handful of people had showed up at a key staging area.

According to MyFoxDC.com, organizers say more could show up through the weekend.

The rally, "Truckers Ride for the Constitution," had called for 10,000 truck drivers to show up Friday morning and circle I-495 for the next three days, according to a Facebook page for the event.

"Truckers will lead the path to saving our country if every American rides with them!" the Facebook page says, adding "The American people are sick and tired of the corruption that is destroying America!"

On its website, the group lists several demands, including that President Obama resign immediately, that the debt ceiling not be raised and that National Security Agency surveillance of communications be ceased. The group is also complaining about low wages and rising fuel costs.

The event's organizers, however, have stressed that they intend to keep the protest peaceful and adhere to all traffic laws.

"We're not coming in to cause any violence or disrupt anything," protester J.B. Schaffner told Greta Van Sustern Thursday night on "Greta."
"We're just coming in to make our voice heard."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.