St. Joe-Benton Harbor News

Thousands of Michiganders rushed to the state's capital city to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's extended stay-at-home order that places further restrictions on people and businesses as the number of COVID-19 cases in the state rises.

State Rep. Brad Paquette (R-Niles) said the governor's extension of the emergency declaration is a move in the wrong direction.

Paquette said the governor has ordered stores to make certain nonessential items inaccessible to customers and has decided not to follow new social-distancing guidelines issued by the federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which would allow Michiganders to safely go back to work.  

Some of the nonessential goods that will no longer be available for customers to purchase include gardening and home-improvement items.

Public golf course are closed, and there will be restrictions placed on interstate travel.  

The Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund organized the protest, instructing people to stay in their cars to adhere to social-distancing guidelines while honking their horns and holding signs to express their outrage at the new restrictions.

Paul LaFrance, a business owner from the Detroit area, told the Business Insider that he has never protested before, but he's starting now. "To say that I am furious about this would be an understatement," LaFrance said. "This is a complete overreach by the government."

Some protestors stayed in their cars, but some gathered on the Capitol lawn without masks and ignored social-distancing rules as they voiced their frustrations with the governor, according to MLive.  Authorities say up to 4,000 people attended the protest on April 15.

Paquette said he wants the governor to use commonsense adjustments that would allow people to go back to work and support their families.

"The governor should align with the federal CISA standards," Paquette said. "A one-size-fits-all executive order based on who is deemed essential, instead of who can do their job safely, is the wrong approach."

Paquette believes the governor's restrictions may put more people out of work. "I represent countless workers who can perform their job functions while abiding by social-distancing protocols," he said. "I urge the governor to let them do so.”

As of May 6, there are more than 45,000 cases of COVID-19 in Michigan and over 4,000 deaths, according to Michigan.gov.