Called “Operation Gridlock” by its organizers — the conservative groups Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund — the protest lived up to its name, with honking vehicles choking Lansing traffic for miles.
“I have a small business, and (the governor) shut me down, protester Tom Hughey told CNN affiliate WILX. “I work at Ford Motor Company, and that shut down. I realize how important this virus is, but now we’re getting to the point where we’re shutting too much stuff down.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer last week extended the state’s “Stay Home-Stay Safe” order through April 30 and added more restrictions, including prohibiting most residents from going to another residence unless they were caring for a relative or dropping off a child.
Michigan has more than 28,000 cases of Covid-19, the fourth-highest number in the nation, and more than 1,900 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“Now is not the time to pull back at all,” Whitmer said last week. “We are in control of our fate here and it depends on every one of us doing our part.”
Not all protesters stayed in their cars, and groups of people could be seen on the Capitol grounds.
“I think every single person here is probably going to get coronavirus, we’re all within six feet of each other,” Nick Somber told WILX.
