There was a rather large protest against the state’s coronavirus restrictions in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday:
Crowd at today’s protest extends on either side of these columns pic.twitter.com/5YGW3nOQFs
— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) April 24, 2020
Police estime the crowd at about 1500:
The Wisconsin Capitol Police estimate approximately 1,500 individuals attended the Reopen Wisconsin rally on Friday afternoon. There were no arrests and no citations issued.
— Jason Joyce (@jjoyce) April 24, 2020
Meltdown over social distancing in 3…2…1…
Here's an aerial shot of Friday's Reopen Wisconsin rally at the Wisconsin Capitol by Sam Li: pic.twitter.com/wEBOw2YFlt
— Jason Joyce (@jjoyce) April 24, 2020
And they would have a point:
As the protest continues, the state Department of Health Services reports the state's highest daily increase yet: 304 cases since yesterday.
Wednesday was also a record daily increase of 225.
Cases in Brown County are exploding, driving the spike.
— Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) April 24, 2020
Journos were quickly triggered by the appearance of open-carry citizens at the rally:
Incredible view from @WISN12News News Chopper 12 over Madison this afternoon showing the “stay home” protest against @GovEvers order.
That is a lot of people. Our crew on the ground reports some people are carrying long guns at this protest. @ABC @ABCNewsLive pic.twitter.com/7Cr8GUmNgC
— Tanner Kahler (@tannerkahler) April 24, 2020
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“Why should I be” worried about COVID-19, he said:
This man is carrying a handgun and an AR15 at today's "Open Wisconsin" rally in Madison
"The First Amdnement stands for nothing if you do not have a Second Amendment to protect it."
Is he worried about COVID-19?
"I am not. Why should I be?" pic.twitter.com/kOvpGzjtW6
— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 24, 2020
There was even a novelty guillotine. Is this Nancy Pelosi’s “let them eat ice cream” moment?
The vast majority of people at this rally were not open carrying guns. But I stumbled onto scenes like this a few times. That appears to be a guillotine they're posing next to. pic.twitter.com/SpZa1EIoiS
— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 24, 2020
And, yes, there were Trump supporters there:
At today's rally in Madison. pic.twitter.com/q11EO4ertv
— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 24, 2020
They do have a point:
La Crosse resident Russ Lachman, 69, says there's no reason to have ststewide stay-at-home order.
"You got two major areas in Wisconsin that are bad… but the rest, especially the western part of the state, northern part of the state, there's nothing." pic.twitter.com/7K9X34J7cj
— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 24, 2020
Some protesters were angry that the American flag wasn’t flying in front of the Capitol, but they were on the wrong side of the building:
Protesters at state Capitol are chanting "Where's our flag?" and pointing to the Capitol, saying it's a "disgrace" there is no flag
The American flag flies on the other side of the building from where they are rallying
— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) April 24, 2020
This is only going to gain steam if some of these restrictions aren’t lifted, and soon:
Mickey Bitsko flagged me down as soon as I got here.
"Thus is an illegal assembly. Evers says we're illegals. He says people everywhere are nonessential. This one, that one. He's picking winners and losers. Who does that sound like? Chairman Mao. Joseph Stalin. Lenin. Trotsky." pic.twitter.com/PbNMNhlEUf
— Shawn Johnson (@SJohnsonWPR) April 24, 2020
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