The lockdown orders used to be about controlling the Coronavirus. In many places across America, it feels like the lockdown is now used to control the Deplorables. And Americans have taken to the streets to revolt, bringing their long guns in many instances.
In Pennsylvania, huge crowds formed to protest the continued lockdown as ordered by Governor Tom Wolf. From The New York Post:
Hundreds of people openly defied a ban on mass gatherings and federal safety guidelines during a demonstration Monday against Pennsylvania’s coronavirus lockdown order.
Protesters rallied in front of the state Capitol in Harrisburg, where they crowded together on the steps and sidewalk in defiance of social distancing guidelines, recklessly dismissing their own health risk and the risk to others — many without even face masks, according to video posted on social media.
Some waved American and Revolutionary-era Gadsden, or “Don’t Tread on Me,” flags, wore Trump campaign gear and held hand-lettered signs that said “SOME PEOPLE WANT TO WORK” and attacked Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf as a “tyrant.”
Motorists also led a caravan of vehicles — many festooned with American and pro-Trump flags — past the protesters, honking their horns to cheers and applause.
Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, a retired US Army colonel, told those assembled that it was a “great day be an American in Pennsylvania” before leading them in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
The same happened in Kansas City, MO.
Protest Showdowns: Anti-Lockdown Protesters Carry Guns In Pennsylvania, Kansas City Counter-Protesters Block Traffic https://t.co/Hu9sYuS0Yw
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 20, 2020
From the Daily Caller’s story about Kansas City, Missouri’s protest:
Protests once again occurred across the nation Monday, with protesters in Kansas City, Missouri facing off with counter-protesters who blocked traffic, and protesters in Pennsylvania carrying rifles and driving in a military truck.
Several anti-lockdown protesters, who appeared to be wearing colorful patterned shirts, arrived in a military-style truck, carrying heavy arms.
And Washington State…
From the UK Independent:
More than 2,500 protesters descended on the Washington state capitol on Sunday to demand that governor Jay Inslee re-open the state’s economy and lift the stay-at-home order issued to slow the spread of coronavirus.
The rally, at which many attendees ignored advice to wear face masks, was centred on demands that Mr Inslee allow businesses shuttered on safety grounds to reopen, with many protesters arguing that state authorities’ order to close down their economies amounted to an attack on the freedoms fundamental to the US’s founding ideals.
Speaking to Reuters, one protester at the event in Olympia said that “Shutting down businesses by picking winners and losers in which there are essential and non-essential are violations of the state and federal constitution.”
His words echo those heard at similar protests that have sprung up in different states over the last week. At an event in Lansing, Michigan dubbed “Operation Gridlock”, signs on display included slogans including “liberty once lost is lost forever” and “security without liberty is called prison”. One placard in Olympia read “Jay Inslee = King George”.
Mr Trump has lately urged protesters defying stay-at-home orders to continue their rallies and “liberate” their states, but has been accused of potentially inciting violence against democratic governors who have issued stay-at-home orders in defiance of his calls to lift the lockdowns as soon as possible.
A lot of folks say that conservatives don’t get out and protest because they’re too busy working their jobs. But in this time of shut-downs, many of the people who make America work are sitting at home. With each passing day, many are growing increasingly frustrated at what they see as senseless edicts by political leaders to stay home.
The Armageddon that so-called experts predicted has not come to pass. After initial estimates that 2.2 million Americans could die of the WuFlu, it’s looking like, with the help of social distancing, COVID-19 will kill fewer than an average flu season.
Americans are not, by nature, a patient people. With tens of millions thrown out of work, those outside the coronavirus hot spots like the New York metro area, New Orleans, Detroit and a few others are exercising their First Amendment rights — and sometimes their Second, too — to let it be known it’s past time to begin the re-opening process.
Apparently they were protesting in Springfield as well. May have gone over and joined them, but didn’t know anything about it until after the fact. Even then, the local News-Gazette made no mention of it that I saw. That paper is rather worthless. Almost all current articles are about the virus, but yet they don’t mention a rally against the virus shutdown. Heard about it only on an out of town radio station.
Years ago when I questioned why they did not cover the IGOLD rally, the answer was that it is something that happens every year, so it is not really “news.”
Rather worthless paper. They are failing, and deserve to.