“Hell No, We Won’t Stay”: Michigan Residents Protest Stay at Home Order

Michigan’s state capital saw thousands of vehicles gathering Wednesday, to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s social-distancing restrictions.

Operation Gridlock

The Michigan Conservative Coalition nicknamed their protest “Operation Gridlock,” - creating bumper-to-bumper traffic in downtown Lansing, blasting horns, waving flags and demanding that measures against the spread of the Coronavirus are eased and the economy is reopened.

While lock-downs and stay-at-home orders are in place in almost every state in the US, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer might have taken it to the extreme with a recent expansion, prohibiting residents from visiting family or friends unless it’s for providing care, and furthermore banning any and all public and private gatherings no matter the size or family ties. Whitmer also expanded on the restrictions involving business operations.

State residents aren’t too thrilled about the measures, despite Michigan being the state with the fourth highest number of infections, with more than 27,000 cases as of Wednesday afternoon. The measures are staying until at least May 1, but have been under constant fire from Republicans in the state, accusing the governor of turning Michigan into a “nanny state.”

“Quarantine is when you restrict movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people,” Meshawn Maddock, one of the organizers of the protest, told Fox News.

In response, Whitmer’s office said that expressing your emotions is just another form of freedom of speech, simply asking for protesters to “do so in a manner that doesn’t put their health or the health of our first responders at risk.”

“Operation Gridlock” is not the only protest in the nation, however, as many Americans are upset by the stay-at-home orders and organizing similar protests with concerns mainly relating to the economic impact of the shutdowns.