LANSING (Michigan, US), May 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gun-toting protesters against Michigan’s coronavirus lockdown have rallied in the state capitol building.
Hundreds of demonstrators, a few of them armed, gathered in Lansing and many did not wear masks or socially distance.
Police checked their temperatures before some were allowed into the capitol, where lawmakers were debating.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, extended her stay-at-home mandate earlier this month until May 15.
Michigan has been hard hit by the coronavirus, with 3,788 deaths and more than 41,000 infections have been recorded, mostly in the Detroit metro area.
Thursday’s protest, dubbed the “American Patriot Rally”, was organised by Michigan United for Liberty. It called for state businesses to reopen on May 1 in violation of state orders.
It is legal to bear firearms inside the statehouse, and several demonstrators were openly carrying guns in the Senate gallery.
One state senator said several of her colleagues wore bulletproof vests.
The rally is believed to have been the largest of its type since one on April 15 when Michigan protesters sat in their cars in order to create traffic around the statehouse.
On Wednesday, a Michigan court ruled that the governor’s lockdown orders were not unconstitutional, as five state residents had claimed in a lawsuit against the governor.
CALIFORNIA Governor Gavin Newsom will order all beaches and state parks closed starting from Friday after people thronged to the seashore during a sweltering weekend despite his social distancing order, according to a memo sent to police chiefs around the state.
Eric Nunez, president of the California Police Chiefs Association, said it was sent to the group’s members on Wednesday evening so they have time to plan before Newsom’s expected announcement on Thursday.
While most state parks and many local beaches, trails and parks have been closed for weeks, Newsom’s order is sure to ignite furore from communities who say they can safely provide some relief to residents who are starved of fresh air.
Newsom’s beach order follows a weekend in which some 80,000 people flocked to Newport Beach in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, with thousands more gathering at beaches in Ventura County, north of LA.
Beaches in Los Angeles County remain closed.
Lifeguards said most people appeared to be heeding social distance safety rules such as limiting groups and not lingering on the sand. But the crowds irked Newsom, who has said California’s 40 million residents should try to stay home as much as possible.
“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off. This virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful sunny day around our coasts,” he said on Monday.
The same day, beaches across San Diego County reopened. A day later, Newport Beach officials rejected a plan to close city beaches for three consecutive weekends.
California is approaching 50,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 2,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, although the number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested.
