Thousands of furious demonstrators have gathered at Michigan’s state Capitol, creating a massive traffic jam filled with honking cars and flag-waving protesters in defiance of the state’s stringent statewide stay-at-home orders.
The raucous gathering dubbed #OperationGridlock was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition (MCC) in Lansing in protest of Dem. Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown rules that will last through April 30.
On Thursday she signed a new executive order tightening constraints by closing home-improvement stores, restricting interstate travel, and barring constituents from fleeing the heavily afflicted parts of the state to their cabins in rural Michigan.
Shocking video and photos from the protest show residents wrapped in winter coats and hats carrying signs that say ‘Stop the Fear’, ‘End the Lockdown’ and ‘Heil Whitmer’, comparing the governor to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Protesters, some bearing guns, waved American flags from the windows of the State Capitol building while others waved MAGA flags and wore matching red hats bearing the Trump slogan.
The demonstrators notably ignored social distancing measures and most were seen without protective masks or gloves, even though Michigan has the fourth-great outbreak of coronavirus in the country with over 28,000 infections and nearly 2,000 deaths.
Thousands of furious demonstrators have gathered at Michigan’s state Capitol, creating a massive traffic jam filled with honking cars and flag-waving protesters in defiance of the state’s stringent statewide stay-at-home orders on Wednesday. Protesters, some showing off guns, pictured on the front steps of Lansing’s Capitol building urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to lift her lockdown mandate
Locals wrapped in winter coats and hats carried signs that said ‘Stop the Fear’, ‘End the Lockdown’ and ‘Heil Whitmer’, comparing the governor to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler
The raucous gathering dubbed #OperationGridlock was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition (MCC) in Lansing in protest of Dem. Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s lockdown rules that will last through April 30. A protester wearing a MAGA sweater carried a sign that said ‘Free Michigan, Trump 2020, Impeach Whitmer’
Three lanes of traffic were filled with lines of cars blaring their horns outside of the state building on Capitol Avenue Wednesday afternoon, with locals declaring they’re ready to get back to work and get back to their regular lives
People in their vehicles pictured protesting against excessive quarantine orders from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer around the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday
Dozens of cars were seen swarming the entryway to the state Capitol building in Lansing on Wednesday
A protester pictured bearing a sign that says ‘We deem out governor NON essential’
Three protesters pictured in the ‘Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine’ protest at the Michigan Capitol building in Lansing on Wednesday posing in military garb and armed with guns
Protesters were seen not wearing masks and failing to maintain social distancing at the Wednesday protest
Last week Dem. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer updated her stay-at-home orders. The new policy closed big-box stores that sell gardening and home-improvement goods, limited the use of motorboats, closed public golf courses, restricted interstate travel, and banned constituents from fleeing the areas of the state with concentrated COVID-19 cases to their second homes in more rural areas in Michigan
Three lanes of traffic were filled with lines of cars blaring their horns outside of the state building on Capitol Avenue Wednesday afternoon, with locals declaring they’re ready to get back to work and get back to their regular lives. Traffic was backed up for more than a mile in multiple directions in the protest.
Some locals were seen shouting and jumping on top of their cars, calling for the Governor to be removed and lockdown restrictions lifted.
Others were heard chanting ‘recall Whitmer’, ‘USA’, and ‘lock her up’, outside the Capitol building.
Neither the Michigan State Police or the Lansing Police Department had reported any arrests by 2pm local time.
Last week Whitmer issued a new executive order. The new policy closed big-box stores that sell gardening and home-improvement goods, limited the use of motorboats, closed public golf courses, restricted interstate travel, and banned constituents from fleeing the areas of the state with concentrated COVID-19 cases to their second homes in more rural areas in Michigan.
She also banned any gatherings of people who are not a part of a single household.
The activists complained that the rules violated their civil liberties and freedoms, expressed anger over which businesses were allowed to remain open, and frustration over the cancellation of Easter and Passover services.
They believe people are smart enough to make their own decisions regarding the coronavirus epidemic.
‘I’m a state representative from the 102nd district and I’m here to support my people. I have a lot of constituents down here right now,’ State Rep. Michele Hoitenga said in an interview with a local station.
‘They want to get back to work. They can’t access the website to get benefits, then they want to get back to work. We’re recommending we adapt to federal guidelines to do it safely,’ she explained.
Most protesters expressed their desire to get back to work as unemployment in the country has skyrocketed by over 16million over the past three weeks.
‘I’d rather die from the coronavirus than see a generational company be gone,’ Justin Heyboer of Alto, Michigan, said to USA Today. His family has owned Wildwood Family Farms for four generations, which is suffering a major financial blow in light of the coronavirus crisis and lockdown.
A protester rides his bike through protest group ‘Operation Gridlock’ near the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing
On Thursday Gov Whitmer issued a new stay-at-home order tightening constraints by closing home-improvement stores, limiting use of motorboats, restricting interstate travel, and barring constituents from fleeing the heavily afflicted parts of the states to their cabins in rural Michigan. A man pictured protesting in his boat pictured above
An Operation Gridlock protester pictured standing on top of his car holding a Trump 2020 poster
One person wrote on the back of his red pick-up truck: ‘We are Essential!’
A view of the crowd that gathered in defiance of quarantine and isolation orders pictured at the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday
A man wearing a clown face mask and posing with a gun pictured standing outside of the protest at the Lansing Capitol building on Wednesday
People were seen waving flags and signs that said ‘End the Lockdown’ on Wednesday at the Lansing State Capitol
Protesting the protesters: A lone protester named Mikey seemed to defy Operation Gridlock with his poster that said ‘Go Home Rednick’
‘It’s time for our state to be opened up. I’m tired of not being able to buy the things we need, go to the hair dressers, get our hair done,’ one woman said to Fox News
‘It’s time for our state to be opened up. I’m tired of not being able to buy the things we need, go to the hair dressers, get our hair done,’ one woman said to Fox News, showing her graying roots.
‘Can’t buy paint, can’t buy lawn fertilizer or grass seed, come on, all statewide?’ another local added.
‘All of these people still have to go home to the sober reality that they don’t have income coming in. It’s heartbreaking,’ Meshawn Maddock, a board member of the Michigan Conservative Coalition, said.
Whitmer’s executive order was met with immediate backlash let by Republican state legislators who found her rules draconian and excessive.
On Tuesday a group of four Michigan residents filed a lawsuit against her saying her order infringes upon First and Fourth Amendment rights.
President Donald Trump said in March he had a ‘big problem’ with Whitmer referring to her as ‘that young, a woman governor’.
‘I love Michigan, one of the reasons we are doing such a GREAT job for them during this horrible Pandemic. Yet your Governor, Gretchen ‘Half’ Whitmer is way in over her head, she doesn’t have a clue. Likes blaming everyone for her own ineptitude! #MAGA,’ he tweeted.
The Michigan House Republicans shared posts about the protest on Twitter saying: ‘People are upset because they believe the restrictive order is taking away their fundamental civil liberties and freedoms’
This car spotted at the protest was decked out in Trump stickers and flags
Some signs held by protesters said: Even Pharaoh freed slaves during a plague’
These two girls held a sign that said ‘My constitutional rights are essential’ at the Wednesday protest
Brave protesters braved the snow and rain on Wednesday to take to the streets to defend their rights
A woman smiles and waves a Trump 2020 flag from the back of a pick-up truck at the Wednesday Operation Gridlock protest
Protesters join in Operation Gridlock near the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing on Wednesday
Protesters in Operation Gridlock pictured armed with guns and sporting face masks and gloves in light of the coronavirus crisis
Whitmer’s executive order was met with immediate backlash let by Republican state legislators who found her rules draconian and excessive. On Tuesday a group of four Michigan residents filed a lawsuit against her saying her order infringes upon First and Fourth Amendment rights
A banner saying Benjamin Franklin quote ‘Security without liberty is called prison’ was displayed in front of the Capitol building
‘Governor Whitmer believes that everyone has a right to protest and speak up,’ Whitmer’s deputy press secretary said of the Wednesday protests in a statement, according to Business Insider.
‘She knows that a lot of people are angry and frustrated, and will always defend everyone’s rights to free speech – the Governor asks those who choose to protest these orders to do so in a manner that doesn’t put their health or the health of our first responders at risk.’
The governor spoke out about the backlash she’s received from the MCC in a news conference earlier this week, in which she pointed out that the group is funded in large part by the family of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and is very active in Michigan conservative politics.
‘This group is funded in large part by the DeVos family,’ she said Monday, according to local station WWJ. ‘And I think it’s really inappropriate for a sitting member of the United States president’s Cabinet to [be] waging political attacks on any governor.’
‘I think that they should disavow it, and I encourage people to stay home and be safe,’ she said.