Members of the ‘People’s Convoy’ given Capitol tour by GOP senator

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) gave a tour of the Capitol to truckers from the “People’s Convoy,” his office confirmed to The Hill, noting it was compliant with the Senate sergeant-at-arms policies.

Politico first reported that the Kansas Republican had provided a Capitol tour to the group, which has been protesting workplace vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 protocols and was influenced by the Canadian trucker convoy movement.

According to Politico, a senior congressional aide had reported the tour to the Department of Justice amid concern that it could allow the truckers to organize a way into the building.

The aide told Politico that he had heard complaints about the truckers being allowed into the Capitol by a Capitol Police officer.

Capitol Police declined to comment about the matter to The Hill.

“Who would have known that taking a friendly group of hard-working American truckers, including Kansans, on a public tour of their nation’s Capitol building would cause such a stir. Let’s not forget, these are the essential workers who showed up to work every day in the earliest months of the pandemic to deliver goods and food to Americans,” Marshall said in a statement.

“Now senior congressional aides feel the need to report a Senator giving these same people a tour of the United States Capitol to the Department of Justice? Hard-working Kansans — especially those who have driven over 1,000 miles to get to D.C. — deserve access to their U.S. Capitol,” the senator added.

Several other Republicans spoke to the Daily Caller about the story and incident, including Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who said he believed the truckers should be allowed into the Capitol.

“You got a United States Senator taking taxpaying citizens from his state through their capitol — the capitol that their tax money paid for, that they’re supposed to be able to come to petition their member of Congress to redress their grievances. He’s taking them through the Capitol and some senior aide Democrat, what alerts the Department of Justice? This is frightening,” the Ohio Republican told the news outlet in a phone interview.

Marshall led efforts to pass a resolution in the Senate earlier this month to get rid of the COVID-19 national public health emergency, though it faces an uphill battle in the Democat-majority House. 

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.