Lawmakers were seen wearing bulletproof vests as armed protesters stormed Michigan’s Capitol in Lansing just moments before the state’s House of Representatives denied Gov Gretchen Whitmer’s request to extend her state of emergency in order to combat COVID-19.
Photos from inside the Michigan House Chamber showed elected officials wearing bulletproof vests while men holding guns stood above them.
‘Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today,’ Sen Dayna Polehanki tweeted Thursday afternoon.
It’s legal in Michigan to carry firearms as long as it is done with lawful intent and the weapon is visible.
Hundreds of protesters descended on the Capitol for a protest, dubbed the ‘American Patriot Rally’ that was organized by Michigan United for Liberty, while the Michigan House decided whether to extend Whitmer’s state of emergency for 28 more days.
Ultimately, the lawmakers denied Whitmer’s request and passed a resolution authorizing the Speaker of the House to commence legal action, challenging the governor’s authority and actions during the pandemic. Whitmer is unable to veto the resolution.
Many of those gathered for the protest included militia group members carrying firearms and people holding up pro-Trump signs.
Most of them appeared to be ignoring state social-distancing guidelines as they clustered together within six feet of each other. Few people wore masks.
Michigan’s directive, while stricter than most, has the same goal: to keep Americans safe from the coronavirus.
In the United States, more than 1 million people have been infected with the virus. The death toll increases each day and as of Thursday afternoon it surpassed 62,000. In Michigan, more than 3,600 people have died from the virus and more than 40,000 people have contracted the illness.
But nonetheless protests to open governments have erupted across the United States, with today’s rally occurring just a day after a Michigan judge sided with Whitmer in a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs who claimed her stay-at-home order violated their constitutional rights.
Court of Claims Judge Christopher M. Murray disagreed, saying that the plaintiffs’ were not strong due to the severity of the pandemic.
Murray wrote in the court order: ‘Although the Court is painfully aware of the difficulties of living under the restrictions of these executive orders, those difficulties are temporary, while to those who contract the virus and cannot recover (and to their family members and friends), it is all too permanent.’
State authorities have warned that protesters could be ticketed for violating social-distancing rules.
The mayor of Lansing, Andy Schor, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was ‘disappointed’ protesters would put themselves and others at risk, but recognized that Whitmer’s order still allowed people to ‘exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of speech’.
Whitmer has acknowledged that her order was the strictest in the country.
Protesters, many from more rural, Trump-leaning parts of Michigan, have argued it has crippled the economy statewide even as the majority of deaths from the virus are centered on the southeastern Detroit metro area.
Organizers of a mid-April protest in Michigan took credit when Whitmer recently rolled back some of the most controversial elements of her order, such as bans on people traveling to their other properties.
State legislative approval of Whitmer’s state of emergency declaration, which gives her special executive powers, is set to expire after Thursday.
Whitmer has asked for a 28-day extension, though Republican lawmakers in control of the statehouse who want to see a faster economic opening have signaled they could reject her request.
Regardless, Whitmer’s stay-at-home order is set to continue through May 15, though she has said she could loosen restrictions as health experts determine new cases of COVID-19 are being successfully controlled.