![]() ![]() Other Michigan residents who stayed away from the capitol building slammed the protest. "That amounts to a taking by the government of private property, which is authorized under the Constitution, but when done so, they need to be justly compensated for it," Helm said. One of the plaintiffs is the owner of a landscaping company who had to lay off 15 workers because his business was deemed nonessential. "We believe what the governor has done with her orders is over-broad and overreaching - taking a sledgehammer to an ant," attorney David Helm, who filed the lawsuit in the Eastern District of Michigan on behalf of the residents, told WXYZ. The suit claims the governor's extended stay-at-home order unfairly infringes on their rights "to associate with friends and family and utilize their private property." "I understand safety, and I know how to take care of my own family."įour Michigan residents filed a federal lawsuit against Whitmer on Tuesday, alleging the stay-at-home orders violate their Constitutional rights to due process under the Fifth and 14th Amendments. The same thing with the seatbelt in the car," Maddock said. When I get on a motorcycle, I put a helmet on, not because the government tells me to wear a helmet. "I think that people are a lot smarter than our government gives us credit for, and I think that people have common sense. She said she's not insisting on opening the economy full tilt all at once. Maddock said she has had two friends who contracted coronavirus and died and knows others who have been infected. Elected officials need to step up and start acting reasonably." We expect our government to act with reason instead of emotion, and our government is failing us. "We're watching our businesses burn down, and they're claiming that this is a stunt because we care about these things. This is just a frustrated expression of people," said Maddock, whose husband is a Republican member of the state Legislature. Whitmer has imposed some of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the nation, including limiting the number of customers in essential stores to four for every 1,000 square feet prohibiting employers from making employees come to work unless they are "necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations" suggesting people limit the number of household members who are running errands and banning all public and private gatherings outside homes. The American people are smart enough to be able to make these decisions themselves." My point is that we don't need it imposed upon us. "It's a personal responsibility regardless. "It's not about not being safe - we want to be safe - but I don't think that we need the Constitution suspended in order to be safe," a protester, who only gave his name as Eric and described himself as an out-of-work contractor, told WXYZ. "We're here to make sure everybody has the right to assemble peacefully," one of the armed men, Phil Odinson, told ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ. While organizers asked demonstrators to stay in their cars, many lined the sidewalk outside the capitol building, some wearing protective masks but many apparently defying social distancing recommendations of remaining 6 feet apart.Ī group of men identifying themselves as members of the Michigan Liberty Militia walked up and down the sidewalk outside the capitol building carrying rifles. ![]() Many of the protesters, including some wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats and T-shirts supporting President Donald Trump, also displayed signs reading "Impeach Whitmer" and "My Freedom is Essential." The protest kicked off at noon in downtown Lansing with what appeared to be a huge number of participants in vehicles honking horns, waving American flags and circling the capitol building.ĭubbed "Operation Gridlock," and organized by groups including the Michigan Conservative Coalition, the demonstration jammed the streets around the capitol building. And so many businesses and hobbies, and just everyday things, have been restricted by our governor," Maddock told ABC News. Everybody has learned a lesson in hand-washing, face touching and social distancing. "Nobody is denying that this is a crisis, a worldwide crisis, but we've also all learned to be safer. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home orders, Maddock drove 60 miles from her residence to Lansing, the state capital, to join a convoy of motorists Wednesday afternoon protesting the governor's pandemic directive and calling on state leaders to allow small businesses to reopen so employees can get back to work. Instead of staying in her house, adhering to Gov. ![]() But just a few days ago, she said she was forced to lay off her last three employees due to courts being shuttered and jails being emptied to blunt the spread of coronavirus in the hard-hit state. ![]() For three decades, Meshawn Maddock and her family have run A-1 Bail Bonds in Milford, Michigan. ![]()
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