'Anti-science hicks' in the red state of Massachusetts descend upon State House to protest stay-at-home advisory [video]; UPDATED

How would Amanda Marcotte process this footage from outside the Massachusetts State House today? Is liberal Boston full of … racists?

#BREAKING Protesters taking to the streets outside of the Massachusetts State House calling for the Governor to reopen the state, protesting the stay at home advisory. Some also appear to be protesting the mask mandate that takes effect on Wednesday #7News pic.twitter.com/hRHMopJlcB

— Mike Fahey (@michaelefahey) May 4, 2020

Kind of messes with the prevailing media narrative a bit.

But… but… but… the south. https://t.co/eGueSbWoja

— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) May 4, 2020

Weird. I thought only the hicks in the red states were protesting?

— Johnny Utah (@JohnnyU2019) May 4, 2020

Oh man look at all those silly, anti-science hicks, just what one would expect in…Boston, Massachusetts. https://t.co/gWg48o6HIZ

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) May 4, 2020

From a public health standpoint, the protest is probably, um, not terribly wise. But rightly or wrongly, such demonstrations are becoming increasingly common. And sorry media, but they’re not just a red state phenomenon.

Editor’s note: This post has been updated with an additional tweet.

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Update:

In the interest of balanced coverage, we feel it’s important to note that at least some of the protesters’ indignation went beyond just frustration at the stay-at-home advisory:

“It’s not a pandemic!” speaker claims. “The reason why they’re doing this … to turn the United States of America into the United Socialist States of America.” pic.twitter.com/O7fdaPQVck

— Matt Stout (@MattPStout) May 4, 2020

Crowd now chanting “It’s a hoax! It’s a hoax!” followed by speaker saying this is all an effort to crash economy and hurt President Trump’s reelection chances pic.twitter.com/vp1yfTZiNF

— Matt Stout (@MattPStout) May 4, 2020

Yeah, that’s not helpful. There’s an argument to be made when it comes to the wisdom of expecting people to stay home … when it comes to whether or not the pandemic is real, though, there’s not really an argument. It’s real, and it’s not spectacular.