Covid: Trucker protests may hit Super Bowl, US security agency says

The US Department of Homeland Security has warned that a convoy of truckers protesting against Covid-19 vaccine mandates could impact the Super Bowl.

The department said a protest similar to ongoing demonstrations in Canada could start in California in the coming days, and then travel to Washington DC.

Truckers protesting in Canada's capital Ottawa have been blocking main roads.

The Super Bowl, the final game of the US National Football League, is planned for Sunday 13 February in Los Angeles.

In a bulletin issued to law enforcement agencies across the US, the department said it had received reports of truck drivers planning to potentially block roads in major cities in protest against mandatory Covid vaccinations in their industry.

First reported by Yahoo News, the bulletin said that action could continue until mid-March, and threaten both the Super Bowl - one of the world's biggest sporting events - and President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, scheduled for 1 March.

The department told the BBC it was "tracking reports of a potential convoy" but that it had "not observed specific calls for violence".

Its bulletin added that such a convoy could "severely disrupt transportation" across the country and that the department would continue to monitor the situation.

Canada's protests were sparked by a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, implemented by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government last month.

The so-called Freedom Convoy movement has since morphed to include anger at other Covid restrictions and at Mr Trudeau's government more generally.

The vast majority of Canadian truckers are vaccinated, and trucking organisations have distanced themselves from the protests.

The protesting truckers and their supporters have been blocking main roads in Ottawa, the national capital, for almost two weeks.

They have also been blocking border crossings including the Ambassador Bridge - the largest international suspension bridge in the world that carries about a quarter of US-Canada trade. It connects Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, in the US state of Michigan.

On Thursday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer urged Canadian authorities to reopen the bridge to traffic.

"The blockade is having a significant impact on Michigan's working families who are just trying to do their jobs," Ms Whitmer wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. She called on Canada to "take all necessary and appropriate steps to immediately and safely reopen traffic".

Ottawa police said in a statement on Thursday that 25 people had been arrested over the protests, with charges including public mischief and driving while disqualified, and that 126 separate criminal investigations were under way.

They added that several vehicles had been seized and more than 1,550 tickets issued for offences ranging from excessive noise to "stunt driving".