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Michiganders Protest After Governor Extends 'Stay-at-Home' Order and Imposes New Restrictions

Bronson Stocking
Bronson Stocking  |  April 15, 2020 4:30 PM

Thousands of protestors are demanding Michigan be reopened after Gov. Whitmer extended the stay-at-home order to the end of April and imposed additional restrictions throughout the state. Michiganders are no longer allowed to operate motorboats or travel to in-state vacation residences. And retail stores that have so far been allowed to remain open must now close down parts of their businesses that deal with "non-essential" items like carpeting, flooring, furniture, plants, and paint. 

Dubbed Operation Gridlock, thousands of drivers clogged up streets in Lansing on Wednesday to protest the governor's latest restrictions and demand that Michigan be reopened. 

"Quarantine is when you restrict movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people," Meshawn Maddock, an organizer of the protest told Fox News. "Every person has learned a harsh lesson about social distancing. We don’t need a nanny state to tell people how to be careful." 

Many protesters left their vehicles to protest on foot outside the state capitol.

Speaker of Michigan's House of Representatives, Lee Chatfield, said there was nothing more American than people exercising their constitutional rights to petition their government. Speaker Chatfield said he trusted the protesters to exercise safety while also exercising their constitutional rights. 

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"We've seen people across the entire state have their livelihoods taken away and they're being told that they can't work their job and take care of their family, and I think that's a problem. And that's what we're seeing: people today come here to ensure their voice is being heard," Chatfield said.

Protest groups are springing up across the nation as Americans grow tired of government orders restricting their movements and prohibiting their associations. As former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson notes, the real viral growth is now taking place on Facebook, where groups calling for the government to reopen the country are experiencing a sharp rise in membership. 

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