Saturday, April 25, 2020

DeVos Has Deep Ties to Michigan Protest Group, But Is Quiet On Tactics

Scott Bixby April 21, 2020


Bloomberg

When hundreds of protesters congregated on the steps of the Michigan state capitol building last week, snarling local ambulances in traffic and handing out candy to children with ungloved hands, it was with the organizational assistance of a dark money group with close ties with Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

Now, the governor is calling on the cabinet official and fellow Michigander to condemn the group’s open violation of social distancing guidelines during a pandemic.

“This group is funded in large part by the DeVos family,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, told reporters in a press briefing last week. “And I think it’s really inappropriate for a sitting member of the United States president’s cabinet to be waging political attacks on any governor.”

But DeVos, so far, is staying mum—despite having made public statements urging Americans to follow stay-at-home guidelines for the sake of public safety, and being directly named by the governor at the center of the group’s ire.

Protest movements against statewide stay-at-home orders—and in support of President Donald Trump—are growing more prominent across the country as the coronavirus outbreak in the United States enters its third month, even though an increasing majority of Americans say that the orders are necessary and that Trump’s handling of the pandemic has been both slow and bungled.

For Some on the Right, No Rumor Is Too Outlandish About Michigan Gov. Gretcher Whitmer

Most of the protests can be traced back to “Operation Gridlock,” a protest in Lansing, Michigan, that urged conservatives frustrated with the aggressive social-distancing executive order signed by Whitmer to circle the complex in their cars and cause an intentional traffic jam. Michigan, which is the epicenter of the outbreak in the Midwest and has lost nearly 2,400 people to the virus, has implemented stiff stay-at-home orders to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus that banned interstate travel, closed garden stores and halted motor boating.

The protest—which ultimately violated the president’s own social distancing guidelines and, according to Whitmer, blocked access to a level-one trauma center—was organized last week by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund, the latter of which has long-established connections with the wealthy DeVos family. The group, styles itself as the “premiere conservative advocacy organization in Michigan” and which had previously advocated for “right-to-work” legislation, was founded by Greg McNeilly, a former executive director of the state Republican party and currently the chief operating officer of the Windquest Group, the family office that manages a portion of DeVos’ personal fortune and that of her husband.

As a 501(c)(4), the Michigan Freedom Fund is not obligated to disclose its donors or the amount of money they contribute, but has deep pockets and a willingness to dig in on conservative pet projects in the state. In 2018, the group spent more than $1.2 million advocating against Proposal 2, which would have changed the state constitution to allow for an independent commission to draw congressional districts in the state.

Whitmer, citing those connections, called on DeVos to disavow the group’s actions and to encourage participants in future actions to “stay home and be safe.”

As secretary of education, DeVos has encouraged Americans to follow social distancing guidelines against leaving home, unnecessary interstate travel and congregating in large groups—guidelines that have been increasingly flouted by those participating in protests like the one organized by the Michigan Freedom Fund.

The Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment regarding whether DeVos had any guidance for parents thinking of including their school-aged children in their protest plans, but a family spokesperson told The Daily Beast that while the DeVos’ have not provided any funds for the protest, they understand the frustration that prompted the event.

“As elements of the governor’s top-down approach appear to go beyond public safety, Michigan deserves competent governance—not baseless attacks,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Another wealthy conservative backer of the Michigan Freedom Fund told The Daily Beast that the amount of money spent on advertising the event—$250 for sponsored Facebook posts, according to the group—is “infinitesimal” in the grand scheme of dark money in politics.

“There were thousands of cars there, according to state police—there were a few hundred people who disregarded the organizers’ directions and were not necessarily social distancing,” said Ron Weiser, a Michigan philanthropist and former chair of the state Republican Party who has supported the Michigan Freedom Fund in the past.

In the scheme of things, Weiser added—with the fund having spent millions in past campaigns—a $250 sponsored post on Facebook is, he felt, barely worth mentioning.

“I mean, why not talk to me about picking up change next to a parking meter?” Weiser said.

Weiser, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Slovakia under President George W. Bush, told The Daily Beast that any government official would be barred from being involved with funding or organizing an event like “Operation Gridlock,” and said that Whitmer’s criticism was clearly political.

“Governor Whitmer said what she should because it’s political and, as you well know, she’s auditioning to become vice president,” Weiser said, referring to Whitmer’s inclusion on former Vice President Joe Biden’s short list of potential running mates in the 2020 general election. “So she would attack anybody in the administration, if she has the opportunity.

Whitmer’s office has deflected that speculation, saying that she is “flattered” by Biden’s consideration but that she is currently focused on slowing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic in Michigan.

The protest’s organizers have echoed that dismissal. McNeilly, who is extremely active onlinetweeted in response that “clearly she remains misinformed and disconnected with reality. Sad and beneath her....well, maybe not.”

Tony Daunt, executive director of the Michigan Freedom Fund, told a local Fox affiliate that Whitmer’s “wild claim” was false.

“I think the Conservative Coalition and the thousands of people who have signed on to that group are offended by that,” Daunt said, “as they should be.”

The governor’s office, which pointed out that it had received more requests for comment about the protest than the number of people who showed up on the Capitol’s footsteps, said that the governor understands the frustration of those protesting—within limits.

“We recognize that some people are angry and frustrated, and that’s okay,” said Bobby Leddy, the governor’s spokesperson. “We just ask those who choose to protest these orders to do so in a manner that doesn’t put their health or the health of our first responders at risk.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Conservative group linked to DeVos family organizes protest of coronavirus restrictions in Michigan

April 17, 2020 By Igor Derysh, Salon


Protesters rallied around the country this week against stay-at-home orders forcing nonessential businesses to shut down, but Michigan’s governor warned that they may have backfired by creating “a need to lengthen” the lockdowns.

Protesters in at least six states planned to protest restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus this week. In Michigan, a conservative group linked to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ family organized “Operation Gridlock” to protest restrictions on nonessential businesses and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent order barring travel between homes. The state is among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, reporting more than 27,000 confirmed cases and 1,909 deaths.

A convoy of motorists protested Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s pandemic directive, calling on state leaders to allow small businesses to reopen.

Dubbed “Operation Gridlock,” the demonstration jammed the streets around the capitol. https://t.co/5qef4M6K1e pic.twitter.com/zbpvG4OWns
— ABC News (@ABC) April 15, 2020

Some protesters, several of whom wore pro-Trump gear, gathered on the capitol steps as many remained in their cars. Demonstrators chanted “recall Whitmer” and “lock her up,” a chant normally usually used by Trump supporters in reference to his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Chants of “recall Whitmer,” “USA” and “lock her up” outside Michigan Capitol. #OperationGridlock pic.twitter.com/7Q7niiNFUF
— Malachi Barrett (@PolarBarrett) April 15, 2020


Whitmer, who has feuded with President Donald Trump over the delayed federal response to the crisis, argued that “it wasn’t really about the stay-at-home order at all.”

“It was essentially a political rally — a political statement that flies in the face of all of the science and all of the best practices from the stay-at-home order that was issued,” the Democrat told MSNBC on Wednesday.

Whitmer said the cars “were blocking one of our hospitals, so an ambulance literally wasn’t able to get into the bay for ten minutes.”

“We know that this demonstration is going to come at a cost to people’s health,” she said. “The sad irony of the protest is that they don’t like to be in this stay-at-home order, but they might have just created a need to lengthen it.”

Other states saw smaller protests against the coronavirus restrictions.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, had his news briefing interrupted Wednesday by dozens of protesters. The small group chanted, blew horns and shouted into a megaphone to drown out the governor’s comments. The protesters chanted “we want to work” and “facts over fear.”


Protesters who oppose Gov. Andy Beshear’s decision to close businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus have gathered en masse outside the room where he is doing his daily #COVID19 press conference, crying out “We want to work!” and now “Facts over fear!” pic.twitter.com/49812u8G4R
— Morgan Watkins (@morganwatkins26) April 15, 2020

Scientists and business executives alike have repeatedly argued that the economy cannot simply reopen if the risk of infection remains high.

“We do have some folks up in here in Kentucky today – and everybody should be able to express their opinion – that believe we should reopen Kentucky immediately, right now,” Beshear said at the briefing. “Folks, that would kill people. That would absolutely kill people.”

Dozens of protesters also gathered outside of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Monday news briefing to call for an end to the state’s stay-at-home order. DeWine, a Republican, has also received criticism from his own party for issuing a stay-at-home order, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

This photo, from an Ohio protest demanding opening the economy, is everything (taken by Joshua A. Bickel for The Columbus Dispatch) pic.twitter.com/WlSHauMvjM
— Zack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp) April 15, 2020

DeWine told MSNBC that he would not reopen the economy until medical experts deem it safe to do so.

“Whenever we open up, however we do it, if people aren’t confident, if they don’t think they’re safe, they’re not going to go to restaurants,” he said. “They’re not going to go to bars. They’re not going to really get back into society.”

Dozens of individuals also gathered in Utah to protest the business closures, carrying signs like “Resist like it’s 1776” and “America will never be a socialist country,” according to KSL-TV.

Walk for Freedom on Wednesday-Southern #Utah doesn’t let a pandemic get in the way of a protest #COVID19 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/JbpA8jCkt9
— Scott Schwebke (@TheChalkOutline) April 16, 2020

The state’s stay-at-home order was set to expire this week, but Gov. Gary Herbert, a Republican, extended it through May 1.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that in order for us to slow the spread and to get back on our feet socially and economically, this is not the time” to reopen, he said earlier this week.

At least one protester was arrested in North Carolina after about 100 protesters gathered in Raleigh to protest the state’s stay-at-home order. The Raleigh Police Department warned that “protesting is not listed as an essential function.”

Holly Springs woman arrested during protest to Reopen NC https://t.co/dcbFAiDyv5 pic.twitter.com/3SV0t6Xanx
— CBS 17 (@WNCN) April 14, 2020

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said Monday that reopening the economy prematurely would be disastrous.

“Some people want to completely obliterate these restrictions,” he said. “It would be a catastrophe. The numbers are very clear that the interventions that we’ve entered into — social gatherings, limitations on bars and restaurants, the stay at home order — those kinds of things are working.”

Protesters are also set to demonstrate against the restrictions Thursday in Virginia.

“Government mandating sick people to stay home is called quarantine. However, the government mandating healthy citizens to stay home, forcing businesses and churches to close is called tyranny,” the group ReOpen Virginia said in a statement, claiming that “thousands of concerned citizens” would gather at the state capitol.

Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, extended the business closures Wednesday through May 8.

“As we have seen from our data and models, social distancing is working, and we are slowing the spread of this virus,” he said. “But it is too early to let up. By extending this order to keep certain businesses closed or restricted, we can continue to evaluate the situation and plan for how to eventually ease restrictions so that our businesses may operate without endangering public health.”

Former Obama aide Tommy Vietor argued that the protests’ ties to conservative groups like the DeVos-linked Michigan Freedom Fund show that the demonstrations are just “astroturf” efforts “paid for by billionaires.”

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel slammed the protesters for defying guidelines intended to protect the public.

“Using your right to peaceably protest in such a manner as to spread a virus which may endanger your life, the lives of your friends, family and neighbors, and the lives of countless food service, law enforcement and healthcare workers does not make you a patriot,” she said. “A ‘patriot’ is defined as a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against its enemies. The enemy here is the virus-not each other


RIGHT WING NUTS ANTI COVID-19 PROTESTS 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/4/who-is-behind-coronavirus-social.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-tea-party-linked-group-plans-to.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/conservative-group-linked-to-devos.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/opinion-whos-behind-reopen-protests.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/america-has-descended-into-coronavirus.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/fringe-right-closes-down-michigan.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/these-people-arent-freedom.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-quiet-hand-of-conservative-groups.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/protesters-decry-stay-at-home-orders-in.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/trump-ally-lickspittle-bootlicker.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-rightwing-groups-behind-wave-of.html

 IT SPREAD TO CANADA 
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/reckless-yahoos-protest-at-queens-park.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/canada-eh-great-anti-vaxxer-coronavirus.html













How a tea party-linked group plans to turbocharge lockdown protests

THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN! 

CONFEDERATE AMERICA BREAKS OUT OF ITS REPUBLICAN DISGUISE TO CHALLENGE LINCOLN
FEDERALISM OVER STATE'S RIGHTS

By Tina Nguyen April 24, 2020

The Convention of States, an activist network with tea party origins, did not originate the coronavirus lockdown protests across the country. But it’s got a plan to take them to the next level.

Publicly, the group claims no affiliation with the organizers agitating for state governments to lift social-distancing measures. Yet behind the scenes and on their social media channels, the group’s leaders have made no secret of their desire to boost the protests, if not elevate them to a bigger, more professionalized and media-friendly network with a more broadly appealing message.

Over the past several weeks, the group has scooped up dozens of URLs for sites aimed at organizing future protests in key states — OpenWINow.com, opencalifornianow.com, openfloridanow.com, openarizonanow.com. On private forums, activists affiliated with the Convention of States are coordinating their own protests. And in Facebook livestreams, the organization's leader has been advising protesters to avoid divisive features that marked some early lockdown protests: stand apart from each other, bring hand sanitizer, and, most importantly, do not openly carry guns, even if you’re protesting in an open-carry state.

“You want to create a narrative that says, ‘Those people look like they're using common sense. I want to be one of them,’” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States, in a Tuesday livestream.

The group is also directing protesters to channel their energy into political activity, launching a website, “Open the States,” which allows users to send automated petitions to the White House, Congress, governors and state legislators. The site also links to Facebook groups across the country that are organizing protests, with the largest ones — boasting membership rates into the hundreds of thousands — targeting states run by Democrat governors.
Cars line the north and south bound lanes of Lincoln Blvd. during the Let's Get Oklahoma Open For Business rally at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City, Okla. on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Participants drove their cars around the Capitol to protest the hardship Oklahoma citizens are being placed in due to businesses being forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Chris Landsberger/The Oklahoman via AP)

The protest organizers appear to be taking the cues. Many of these Facebook groups include rules that reflect Convention of States recommendations, like not posting coronavirus memes or conspiracy theories.

Taken together, it’s a slate of tactics that indicates protests in the coming weeks may only grow in size, sophistication and coordination. And it reveals an effort among conservative leaders to tap in to growing anger as lockdowns across the country have forced over 26 million Americans to file for unemployment. As the debate intensifies over when and how states should gradually reopen their economies, groups in more than a dozen states are planning rallies for the coming days.

The tactics are reminiscent of the early tea party movement, an inchoate collection of populist anger following the 2008 recession that quickly coalesced into a professionally organized, if loosely built movement fueled by money from conservative donors. Meckler himself was a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, and pioneered many of these tactics.

“It kind of feels like deja vu to me,” Meckler told POLITICO in an interview. “There's all these groups independently doing their own thing, but at the same time doing the same things and taking cues from each other, clearly”; such as giving themselves the same names, like “Reopen” and “Liberate” these states. “That’s the very definition of a movement—that people start to pick up the same ideas, same terminology.”

All he was doing, he said, was giving them tools and advice.

“When people are engaged in politics, the question is: Do they want to accomplish their goals, or they just want to go out there and do crazy stuff? And so you can have the right end goal, but you can still act crazy in pursuing that goal. I'm not in favor of that.”

But while this push is similar — leveraging an American suspicion of big government and elites dictating individual behavior — it’s a radical departure for the Convention of States. Since its founding in 2014, the group’s goal has been to get Republicans in power in at least 34 state legislatures, persuade them to call a “convention of states” — as outlined in Article V of the Constitution — and rewrite the country’s founding document to reduce the federal government’s power.

“It does strike me as very strange that a group that claims to be devoted to turning power back to the states is protesting in an area where the states are leading rather than the federal government,” said David Super, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University who has written about the Convention of States’ efforts.

Meckler pushed back against the idea that the group was acting differently. “We've always believed in taking power away from centralized government and returning it to the citizens. And one method for doing that is to take power away from the federal government and return it to the states. But we've also always promoted that people could be involved in their state politics and reclaim their power at the state and local level as well.”

This time, he added, the states were playing the role that he always worried the federal government would. “Unfortunately, the state legislatures and mostly the governors and the municipalities have overstepped their bounds and are doing things that a lot of the people really don't like. “

The Convention of States’ efforts are among several national conservative groups, such as FreedomWorks, that have helped organize anti-lockdown protests across the country. Others, such as the Koch family juggernaut Americans for Prosperity, have declined to participate. “The question is — what is the best way to get people back to work? We don’t see protests as the best way to do that,” Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity, recently said in a statement.

Meckler said he and the groups he supported were not working with the Kochs, and understood why they would publicly decline to be involved, citing his early, underfunded experience in the Tea Party Patriots.

“What happens is when people see something is becoming successful, that's when the wealthier people invest in it. They're smart and they don't invest in something nascent because they're worried it's going to go off the rails,” he recalled, adding that he wouldn’t be surprised if they changed their mind: “At some point, they're going to take advantage of the momentum.”

At the White House, President Donald Trump has mostly backed the protesters, declining to express any concerns about the large rallies, which have not always adhered to the government’s social-distancing guidelines. He has even tweeted out calls to “liberate” certain states, like Virginia and Minnesota, that have had protests targeting Democratic governors.

“They seem to be protesters that like me and respect this opinion, and my opinion is the same as just about all of the governors,” Trump said during a recent briefing.

The medical community, including Trump’s own scientific advisers, have been less sanguine. Public health experts worry that lifting social-distancing guidelines now would result in another spike in coronavirus cases, and, ultimately, an even longer economic recovery period.

“So what you do if you jump the gun and go into a situation where you have a big spike, you’re going to set yourself back," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist and a main medical voice on the White House coronavirus task force, during a recent appearance on “Good Morning America.”

The Convention of States officially encompasses several tax-exempt, 501c(3) nonprofit groups that Meckler runs. It was founded with a $500,000 assist from the conservative megadonor Mercer family. Since then, the organization has received significant funding from Donors Trust, a conservative fundraising network primarily affiliated with the Koch family. And it has gathered a slate of endorsements from high-profile conservative politicians like Sens. Ron Johnson and Rand Paul, popular conservative pundits like Glenn Beck and Ben Shapiro and former Republican Govs. Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee, according to a recent copy of their activist handbook.

The group aims to build vast political networks in at least 40 states, across at least 3,000 state legislative districts, each captained by a district coordinator responsible for recruiting at least 100 people to their cause.

Though their regularly stated goal is to relentlessly petition their state legislatures to call for an Article V convention, the coronavirus crisis presents a unique opportunity for their movement, said Jay Riestenberg of Common Cause, who has monitored the group and its involvement with other right-wing groups focused on state legislatures.

“The Convention of States is interested in showing any type of image or anything that shows that people don’t like their government. I mean, that is their end goal, to overthrow the federal government and rewrite the Constitution,” Riestenberg said. “So this is a perfect opportunity for them to show that.”

And Convention of States repeatedly hammers home to its activists that a message goes across better with a degree of professionalism. In recent days, Meckler and his deputies have been dispersing tips on how to protest effectively and present a good image.

During a recent livestream on the Convention of States’ Facebook page, Mark Ruthenberg, executive vice president for the affiliated Center for Self-Governance, told viewers that it was crucial that they maintain a 5-foot distance from each other.

“It looks so much bigger when people are so far spread out,” he said. “So it just makes sense that we maintain our distance, that we show common sense because then the government will most likely say,‘Oh yeah, I guess these guys know what they’re doing.’”

The group has also used the protests to help fundraising.

In recent weeks, Meckler and his affiliated groups have amped up their outreach, launching a campaign in memory of the late senator Tom Coburn to fund their efforts to flip legislatures.

According to one fundraising email, an unnamed donor has offered to match every donation, in addition to an initial $50,000 donation. Meckler himself has started a podcast, where he rails against governors and health officials for being too overcautious. And he launched a private, subscription-only social network for his fans to “keep in touch with other humans” in a place “without the censorship, data mining or trolls.”

In the event that Facebook bans groups for promoting rallies that directly go against public health laws, Rutherberg said that the Open the States project is the organization’s backup plan.

“Should Facebook continue what they're doing — and they're literally working with the governors to find out what the policy is and they're trying to shut [us] down,” he said during a Convention of States Facebook livestream on Tuesday. “So what we're trying to do is we're trying to create other ways to communicate with people about what we're doing.”

As for the URLs, Meckler said that he’d purchased them just in case. “I don't know if we'll ever get around to using those. I don't have an actual purpose for them right now.”

The Open the States project launched its activist forums on Thursday. Already, the Convention of States coordinators have started advertising their own protests.

Joanne Laufenberg, the Wisconsin director of Convention of States, posted that she was organizing a protest in Madison this weekend, as well as several requests to keep things looking orderly.

“Please social distance,” she wrote. “Staying in our cars is even better. We don't need to give the ‘opposers’ any extra ammunition to criticize us. Trust me, I know all the reasons — they are full of it. But let's consider the optics.”



How Some Anti-Quarantine Protests Are Being Promoted by National Players With Ties to Trump


Anti-Lockdown Protests Across the U.
S.

Lissandra Villa April 22, 2020

Across the country this week and last, protests have sprouted up against the social distancing measures in place to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. They’ve featured blocked traffic, confederate flags, picnics with people wearing few facemasks, and protesters pushed up against each other, receiving outsized attention relative to the number of people participating.

There are nearly 45,000 confirmed deaths in the U.S. related to coronavirus, and more than 800,000 confirmed cases total. In desperate efforts to slow the spread of the virus, much of the country is under stay-at-home orders that have been deemed necessary by health experts, taking a historic toll on the economy but which polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with.

Protest organizers say events like these are coming together organically — a grassroots uprising against measures they argue are creating more harm than the virus itself. In some places, the protests do appear to have sprung up on their own. But some demonstrations have been guided or promoted by a conservative network of national players with ties to President Donald Trump.

While organizers supportive of the protests all insist there is no national coordination, there are multiple examples of national groups prodding along some of the political demonstrations. The engagement by national organizers appears aimed at amplifying the resentment brewing on the local level. The President himself has stoked the protesters in his tweets and comments, but some of his allies have also done more, including advising or promoting local protest groups.

Among the national figures supporting the protests is Stephen Moore, a fellow on leave from the Heritage Foundation and founder of the Club for Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group. Moore, who is also an adviser to Trump, has been advocating for the economy to reopen by May 1 and is heading the “Save Our Country” coalition, a conglomerate of conservative groups who also want to see the economy reopen and are advising the White House on how to do it.

Moore says “there’s no national group or national movement behind” the protests, which have so far taken place in more than a dozen states. But Moore says he has personally advised three groups from Ohio, Wisconsin, and Colorado, which he would not name, on how to approach protesting the stay-at-home orders. (“I kind of lost touch with what they’re doing,” he added.) The advice he says he has been giving includes stressing non-violence, respecting health measures in place, and going out of their way to do things seen as constructive.

“And then not having things like MAGA hats, you know? Those aren’t helpful,” Moore says. “And look, I’m the biggest fan of the President there is. … but MAGA hats just turn people off, and so you’re not persuading people.”

Moore says the Save Our Country coalition considered getting involved in the protests as a group, but ultimately decided not to “because we thought it would be a distraction” from the organization’s goals. At least two groups within the coalition are also providing guidance or promoting the protests. Both insisted that was independent of any of the coalition’s activity.

“Tea Party Patriots Action, outside of this Save our Country coalition — separately — we are figuring out where the protests are happening and making sure our supporters are aware of them,” says Jenny Beth Martin, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots. That awareness campaign involves sending out email blasts targeted by state, something it often does regularly, she says.

Martin said feedback from “a few thousand” of her group’s members suggested they were eager to participate in protests, but also aware of the danger the virus poses. “A lot of our supporters, they said they could go if it was in a car, but they couldn’t get out of the car because they know they would be considered high risk. They either would not participate because they’re high risk, or they would only go if they’re staying in their own car and then going back.”

FreedomWorks, another member of the Save Our Country coalition, has also been providing guidance for some of the protesters and is also careful to draw a distinction between its work with the group and its own involvement in the demonstrations. The New York Times and NPR have reported that FreedomWorks — which also has roots in the Tea Party movement — has been giving local protesters guidance on setting up websites and has been conducting polling around reopening the economy.


THE ORIGINAL TEA-PARTY RIOTERS WERE WHITE SLAVE OWNERS
About two weeks ago the group’s base began getting frustrated with the no-end-in-sight restrictions, Adam Brandon, president of FreedomWorks tells TIME. “Now we’re hearing that these [restrictions] could last until August, if not longer? Whoa, wait a second, that’s not what we signed up for. So that’s where you start seeing this like pivot … more into reopening the economy.”

Brandon says the group is not organizing any protests, but is supporting the activist community. “One thing I have to do is put a big brick wall between our work on the Save [Our] Country Coalition, and the grassroots protests. Two completely different efforts,” he adds.

One of the largest protests so far was “Operation Gridlock” in Michigan last week, where thousands of people took part in a drive-by protest in Lansing and blocked traffic. The event was organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition, and one of the key organizers was Meshawn Maddock, who sits on the board of Women for Trump and is a co-chair of the Trump campaign in Michigan, according to her Twitter account.

In response to an inquiry asking whether Michigan Conservative Coalition was “in contact” with members of the Save Our Country coalition — including Moore, FreedomWorks, and the Tea Party Patriots — for guidance while organizing, a Michigan Conservative Coalition representative said in an email that “‘any ‘contact’ might mean a phone call or conversation in a Zoom meeting. MCC had no substantive contacts with any group mentioned.”

Operation Gridlock’s Facebook page also listed the Michigan Freedom Fund as one of the hosts. Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer has said that group has financial ties to the family of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and said it was “inappropriate” for a Cabinet member to be “waging political attacks on any governor.” The DeVos family and Michigan Freedom Fund have denied any involvement by DeVos in the protests.

Tony Daunt, MFF’s executive director, says the group was listed as an event host because the group spent $250 in promoting the event, which he says was the extent of their involvement outside of covering it via his group’s social media. Responding to accusations by Michigan’s governor that the DeVos family helped fund or organize the protest, Daunt says, “That wasn’t the case. That is not the case.”

The President himself endorsed some of the protests, even as they undermined his own administration’s social distancing guidelines. On Friday, Trump shot off multiple tweets calling on his supporters to “LIBERATE” Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia, the latter which he tied to the Second Amendment. “It is under siege!” he tweeted.

The White House tells TIME it is not coordinating with any of these groups. An official with Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign says that if the President supports the protests, then the campaign is “100%” behind him. “If you look, there are states that have gone way over the boundaries on what should be considered safe limitations on what people are doing,” the official says. “The President has talked about where he thinks it’s gone too far.”

Not all members of the President’s party feel the same way. Several Republican governors have deemed the national social-distancing measures necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus in their states, and a recent Quinnipiac poll showed nearly 70% of Republicans agreed with stay-at-home orders. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, also a Republican, criticized the President for encouraging the protesters, noting it was not “helpful.”

Online organizers who have been supporting the protests and have no apparent link to the White House insist that the protests are not being coordinated, and simply reflect a widely shared concern that Americans cannot afford to stay at home much longer.

“This is very parallel to the work that I did in the early days of the Tea Party movement,” says Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States project, which started a website calling to “Open the States”. “My goal is just to give [people] a place where they can congregate and talk to each other and put up notices about whatever might be going on in their own states.” Meckler, who co-founded Tea Party Patriots, says they are not working with any other group. Meckler also said that he’s not coordinating with the White House in any way.

Chris Dorr, a conservative activist who works with his brothers on Second Amendment issues in several states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, and Minnesota, has created Facebook groups with his brothers in several states against “excessive quarantine.” The Washington Post reported that as of this weekend, the brothers’ Facebook groups had more than 200,000 members combined. It’s the type of group where support for events like a recent rally in Pennsylvania have gathered steam.

“There’s no top-down approach to this. I hate to tell everybody that,” says Dorr, after attending the Pennsylvania protest where he says he got a sunburn. “I wish I was this all-seeing guru, and all-powerful dude, but this is the people that are just rising up here.”

Dorr says he and his brothers have not been in touch with the President or his campaign. “I’d take a call from the President, that’d be kind of cool. But we just really support whatever the President is saying as far as reopening the country.”

—With reporting by Tessa Berenson/Washington



RIGHT WING NUTS ANTI COVID-19 PROTESTS 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/4/who-is-behind-coronavirus-social.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-tea-party-linked-group-plans-to.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/conservative-group-linked-to-devos.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/opinion-whos-behind-reopen-protests.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/america-has-descended-into-coronavirus.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/fringe-right-closes-down-michigan.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/these-people-arent-freedom.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-quiet-hand-of-conservative-groups.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/protesters-decry-stay-at-home-orders-in.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/trump-ally-lickspittle-bootlicker.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-rightwing-groups-behind-wave-of.html

 IT SPREAD TO CANADA 
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/reckless-yahoos-protest-at-queens-park.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/canada-eh-great-anti-vaxxer-coronavirus.html












Zermatt and the Swiss government have been sharing their international vision on the face of the Matterhorn. It is wonderful to see the Canadian flag celebrated in this way.

DEAR BOB
YOU COULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT TODAY IS THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF CANADIAN TROOPS FREEING HOLLAND FROM NAZI OCCUPATION
WHICH MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT.
EUGENE

7:25 AM · Apr 25, 2020Twitter for iPad
"Reckless yahoos protest at Queen's Park in Toronto to end the shutdown"
PREMIER DOUG FORD DENOUNCES COVIDIOTS PROTESTING AT THE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE IN ONTARIO OVER CORONAVIRUS STAY AT HOME REGULATIONS
YES HE DID AND IT WAS REFRESHING


BLOGTO City Tanya Mok Posted 4/25/2020


There's a protest in Toronto today. Civil liberties are at stake, the curve is flattening, haircuts are growing out beyond recognition: it's all too much, for some.

Chants of "Open up Ontario" are resounding at Queen's Park right now as a handful of citizens choose to spend their Saturday afternoon protesting Ontario's social distancing measures during a global pandemic.

Protesters chanting “my body my choice”

No social distancing except by reporters and journalist.

(I am not protesting I am covering independently) #queenspark #protest #COVID19 #toronto pic.twitter.com/R33mdO8g6J— Klara Quinton (@KlaraQuinton) April 25, 2020

The sizeable crowd of "yahoos", as Premier Doug Ford referred to them today, are currently fussing over the fact that trying to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has taken the lives of 811 people in Ontario and more than 2,350 nationwide to date has become unbearable.

Doug Ford condemns lockdown protests happening now at Queens Park in Toronto calling them “wreckless”
pic.twitter.com/52v2rw28UG— LΞIGH (@LeighStewy) April 25, 2020

"We see these people that are absolutely irresponsible, it's reckless to do what they're doing," said Ford in a press conference this afternoon. "And personally, I think it's selfish."


Energetic waving of signs that say things like "I want a haircut" would almost be funny, if it didn't blatantly flout the urgings of health officials and frontline healthcare workers, who have been saving lives amidst PPE shortages and outbreaks in the city's most vulnerable communities.

Protesters not social distancing. Letting kids play together.

Images from the current #endtheshutdown #protest in #toronto (I am not protesting, I am here covering this independently - I am wearing mask/gloves and distanced) #queenspark @blogTO @nationalpost @globalnewsto pic.twitter.com/8CLBPteY0p— Klara Quinton (@KlaraQuinton) April 25, 2020

Interestingly, someone's also holding a sign that says "Covexit", which is a pretty weird conflation of COVID-19 and the U.K.'s split from the European Union. Maybe they can take a leaf out of that book and 'exit' the province for a few months while the rest of us try to isolate?

Singing “get up stand up stand up for your rights” #Toronto #protest #COVID19 #queenspark

I am not protesting I am covering this independently pic.twitter.com/biUYwlgozp— Klara Quinton (@KlaraQuinton) April 25, 2020

Even more ironic than the waving of a "Free The Strong" sign alongside a "Protect The Vulnerable" sign is the fact some of the protestors are wearing face masks.

That's good news for the rest of us, because one can only imagine how many respiratory droplets are being dispersed while people shout for their right to haircuts.

Protesters chanting “Everyone’s essential, freedoms are essential, return our freedoms, return our rights” and moving towards traffic from Queens Park

(I am not protesting I am covering independently) #queenspark #protest #COVID19 #toronto pic.twitter.com/kutSzgc6AV— Klara Quinton (@KlaraQuinton) April 25, 2020

There even appears to be some mindful 2-metre-distancing going on, which shows a basic understanding of community spread, despite advocating for "reopening" of industries which have closed specifically for that reason.


Images from the current #endtheshutdown #protest in #toronto (I am not protesting, I am here covering this independently - I am wearing mask/gloves and distanced) #queenspark @blogTO @nationalpost @globalnewsto pic.twitter.com/LsF8e371Cj— Klara Quinton (@KlaraQuinton) April 25, 2020

Toronto's Medical Officer of Health announced last week the cumulative rate of COVID-19 in Toronto is lower than originally projected, thanks to people staying at home for the last month.

Lead photo by Klara Quinton;




Ford slams ‘bunch of yahoos’ protesting emergency measures outside Queen’s Park

About one hundred people went to Queen's Park Saturday slamming COVID-19 emergency measures and demanding a return to normal.


Chris Herhalt, CP24.com
Published Saturday, April 25, 2020

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he’s furious at the “bunch of yahoos” who decided to flout physical distancing measures and emergency laws to protest outside Queen’s Park Saturday afternoon, calling them “irresponsible, reckless and selfish.”

About 100 people gathered in front of Queen’s Park, chanting slogans demanding Ford “open up Ontario” and end all emergency measures, with some carrying signs claiming the novel coronavirus is a hoax.



Ford was visibly angry at the gathering, which violates the province’s month-long order banning all gatherings of more than five people.


“We have healthcare workers down the street at these hospitals working round the clock, to protect the community and 99.9 per cent of people in this province are working together side by side, that’s the reason we’re able to see a flattening of the curve,” Ford said
.

“But then we have a bunch of yahoos out in the front of Queen’s Park sitting there protesting that the place isn’t open, as they are breaking the law. And putting everyone in jeopardy, putting themselves in jeopardy, putting workers

 in jeopardy and god forbid one of them ends up in the hospital down the street.”

WOW NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD SAY THIS, BUT I AGREE WITH FORD.

He said he hoped Toronto police would ticket them.

Not keeping at least two metres apart from someone not in your own household currently carries a fine of $880 in Toronto.

Some demonstrators complained about not being able to get a haircut for the past five weeks, while others called media reports about the virus’ spread “fake news.”



A few demonstrators also brought children to the rally.

“Imagine if we had every single Ontarian acted like the way they’re doing right now, “Ford said. “It would set us back months.

The virus has so far infected at least 13,000 Ontarians, killing 811.

About one hundred people went to Queen's Park Saturday slamming COVID-19 emergency measures and demanding a return to normal.


'Bunch of yahoos': Ontario Premier Doug Ford sounds off on COVID-19 hoaxers protesting in Toronto

Coronavirus outbreak: Doug Ford blasts 'bunch of yahoos' protesting COVID-19 restrictions outside Queen's Park


Ahmar Khan April 25, 2020

A sunny day in Toronto has led to the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford questioning the morality and intelligence of a group of protestors gathered outside the legislature at Queen’s Park in Toronto to voice their opinions against COVID-19 measures on Saturday afternoon.

Ford was asked about the group, and said he was appalled at the group for disobeying physical distancing measures and putting the wellbeing of others at risk.

“We have a bunch of yahoos out in front of Queen’s Park sitting there protesting, but the place isn’t open. They’re breaking the law and putting everybody in jeopardy,” Ford said

An anti-lockdown protest has formed outside the #Ontario legislature.

Many people chanting that #Covid19 is not real

1 man’s sign: ”I want a haircut”

At 1 point, they started singing the national anthem

Currently 44,364 Canadians have tested + for the virus & 2,350 have died pic.twitter.com/pJelE7dObu
— Brandon Gonez (@brandongonez) April 25, 2020

The group of protestors were shouting out “fear is the virus” and “the virus is hoax” while carrying placards reading “Open Toronto” and “Save Small Businesses! We R all essential.” The most popular sign was a #COVEXIT sign, which is likely referring to a COVID exit.

“There’s nobody who wants to open up the economy more than I do and everyone else, but we have to do it responsibly, with the guidance of our Chief Medical Officer of Health and consultation with municipalities,” said Ford.

Here’s the clip: premier @fordnation fired up after he is asked about people protesting #COVID19 measures outside Queen’s Park: “a bunch of yahoos putting everyone in jeopardy... we’re better than this” he says “it’s irresponsible, reckless, selfish” and setting us back. pic.twitter.com/4wqv792L4k
— Tina Yazdani (@TinaYazdani) April 25, 2020

Ontario health officials reported 476 new COVID-19 infections and 48 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 811 and the overall case count including recoveries to 13,995.

Much of the support online has been in favour of Ford’s emphatic response to the protestors, with some on the opposite side of the isle politically siding with his wording.


I'm proud to see the leadership that Doug Ford is showing in how he is handling the #covid19 crisis the province, country and world is facing. Taking a stand and calling out those #yahoos at Queen's Park is exactly what this province needs! @fordnation #ONPoli
— Todd Hamblin (@Hambone9) April 25, 2020

Hell just froze over. I actually agreed with Dougie over the protesters over at Queen's Park... #Covid19 #Covid19Ontario #onpoli
— JT Bean (@jt4702) April 25, 2020

Really disappointed at the amount of folks at Queen's Park in Toronto protesting the shutdown. Stop being so selfish. You're not just putting yourself at risk, you're risking everyone else and the stability of our healthcare system. Smarten up folks. #onpoli #COVID19
— Alfred Lam (@AlfredLam) April 25, 2020

Ford was visibly heated at the fact the group had gathered together, especially while tens of millions of Ontarians sit idly in their homes awaiting recommendations.

“We have these people who want to break ranks with the 14.5 million people and just go rogue? Again, it’s irresponsible, reckless and it’s selfish,” said Premier Doug Ford. “It just burns me up, we worked so hard and we have a bunch of yahoos thinking it’s alright,” he said.

The protests come after protests led by far-right wing personalities caused intersections in Vancouver to shut down. The problem was even more pronounced in the U.S. where protests against government measures took place in over a dozen states, as some armed protestors faced off with healthcare workers.

Are these “yahoos” Americans posing as Canadians in Queen’s Park?
pic.twitter.com/pJgjGywnmG
— Mark Mendoza (@mmen_d0za) April 25, 2020

The protests are a black eye on an otherwise very good performance from Ontarians since the start of the pandemic, who have largely followed physical distancing laws.

“We’re better than this as a people, as a province, we proved it then you have these people that want to protest? Hey, I understand people want to get out there, but we have to be responsible,” he said.


With well over a month of pandemic done with, Ford wants Ontarians to keep looking out for each other by flattening the curve and staying at home.

“We’ve come such a long way that we have to protect the health and wellbeing of every single person in this province,” said Ford.


TWITTER COVERAGE
https://twitter.com/i/events/1254137975765528578


RIGHT WING NUTS ANTI COVID-19 PROTESTS 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/4/who-is-behind-coronavirus-social.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/how-tea-party-linked-group-plans-to.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/conservative-group-linked-to-devos.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/opinion-whos-behind-reopen-protests.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/america-has-descended-into-coronavirus.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/fringe-right-closes-down-michigan.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/these-people-arent-freedom.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-quiet-hand-of-conservative-groups.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/pro-trump-protesters-push-back-on-stay.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/protesters-decry-stay-at-home-orders-in.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/trump-ally-lickspittle-bootlicker.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-rightwing-groups-behind-wave-of.html

 IT SPREAD TO CANADA 
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/reckless-yahoos-protest-at-queens-park.html

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/04/canada-eh-great-anti-vaxxer-coronavirus.html