Protesters descend on Michigan capitol but rain
washes away demonstration
State senate and house cancelled sessions as downpour
and lighting pushed protesters, some armed, away after 90 minutes
Tom Perkins
in Lansing
Thu 14 May
2020 19.05 BSTLast modified on Fri 15 May 2020 05.09 BST
Following a
week of escalating tensions over threats of violence made against Michigan’s
Democratic politicians and an ongoing, emotional debate over Gretchen Whitmer’s
stay-at-home order, dozens of conservative protesters descended on the state
capitol on Thursday morning.
Some
arrived armed with assault rifles while others held up signs portraying the
governor with a Hitler moustache and one speaker taunted police and called for
Whitmer to be pulled outside and arrested for breaking the law with her
emergency orders.
But the
fears of serious violence that had preceded the event proved unfounded.
Instead, a steady downpour and lightning pushed most of the protesters to their
vehicles after about 90 minutes. Tempers only briefly flared when a scuffle
ensued after one demonstrator grabbed a sign from another. Police quickly broke
up the fight and no one was arrested or hurt, the Michigan state police said in
a tweet.
The state
senate and house also cancelled their Thursday morning sessions.
Adam de
Angeli, an organizer with militia-linked Michigan United For Liberty, told the
crowd: “We are not going to be intimidated and we are not going to be silent,”
he said. “This is the biggest infringement on our rights in our history. This
is devastating to our country and economy.”
Many of the
demonstrators also questioned the constitutionality of the governor’s orders.
“What’s
worse – having a cough or having a tyrannical leader who takes your freedoms
away?” asked Tom, who told the Guardian he belonged to a Michigan militia but
declined to give his full name. He held an assault rifle as he stood on the
capitol lawn in full camouflage.
Michigan in
recent weeks has become a flashpoint in the debate over stay-at-home orders,
but in no other state has there been a serious threat of violence. The state
has recorded the seventh highest number of Covid-19 cases, according to Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention data, and Wayne county, which holds the city
of Detroit, has seen some of the US’s highest rates of infection.
Whitmer has
instituted strict emergency orders in an attempt to control the virus’s spread,
and while that has led to protests that received national attention, recent
polling shows bipartisan support for her management of the crisis.
Still,
tensions ratcheted up on 30 April when armed militia members glared and shouted
at lawmakers from the Senate gallery during an emotional debate over extending
Whitmer’s stay-at-home order through the end of May. Democrats charged that the
protests were intimidating lawmakers.
Organizers
had billed Thursday’s protest as “Judgment Day”. State police and the attorney
general, Dana Nessel, responded with warnings that those who brandish weapons,
obstruct police or did not follow social distancing guidelines would be
ticketed or arrested.
But the
protest was largely calm. Some demonstrators wore masks, but few followed
social distancing guidelines. Police mostly stayed inside the capitol building
or in small groups along the capitol grounds’ perimeter.
Phil
Robinson, a member of the Michigan Liberty Militia, carried an assault rifle
and wore full armor. He told reporters that the idea that militia members were
there to intimidate was wrong and characterized his group as peacekeepers and
“law-abiding citizens”.
Whitmer’s
stay-at-home orders have so far survived legal challenges in federal court. But
the Republican-controlled legislature filed a suit that the Michigan supreme
court will soon hear. Though conservatives hold a 4-3 majority on the court, it
frequently does not rule along party lines.
Meanwhile,
the Republican congressman Paul Mitchell and well-funded conservative groups
have launched a citizen-initiated ballot drive that would exploit a loophole in
Michigan’s constitution to allow the GOP-controlled legislature to repeal the
1945 state law that gives governors their emergency powers.
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