BRAVE: 300,000 Michiganders Have Joined a FB Group Asking the Covid Rouge If They Could Be Whipped a Little Less Frequently

People from all over Michigan are joining what some are calling a movement, frustrated and angry about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay home/stay safe order.

“The solution to this, can’t outweigh the potential of what can happen if we continue to shut our economy down,” said Garrett Soldano. “The suicides, the stress. All these other things that will happen, if we continue to extend this out.”

Last Thursday after Whitmer extended the order until April 30. Garrett Soldano started a Facebook page called Michiganders Against Excessive Quarantine.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to reach out to 500 people, hopefully there are 500 people like me,'” he said.

The page now has more than 250,000 followers. [330,000 by now.] People who don’t understand why some things are prohibited and others aren’t.  Yes, you can go shopping at stores like Target and Walmart, but no, you can’t buy certain items deemed non-essential while you’re there.

“When you are taking away our basic freedoms, when you are telling us what we can, and can’t buy, that is where I have a problem. That is where I have decided to stand tall.”

Whitmer’s stay home/stay safe order went into effect March 23rd. She has deemed anything considered not life sustaining prohibited.

She has said this is necessary in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus and save lives.

But her critics think otherwise.

“Michiganders are hurting right now,” Soldano said. “And people are hurting to provide for their own family. And that’s where I have a problem. That is where this virus does not have the teeth to support that.”

Source: Fox 2 Detroit

It’s called Operation Gridlock. A protest has been organized for Wednesday to show disagreement with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent orders during the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan.

The main order people are taking issue with is the extension of the stay at home order and what businesses are considered essential and non-essential. On Thursday, April 9, Whitmer extended that order through the end of the month and also introduced new restrictions on garden centers and stores selling furniture and paint.

The protest will take place noon on Wednesday and participants are asked to stay in their cars, drive to Lansing and circle the Michigan Capitol building. 

Organizers say they want to create a traffic jam in Lansing.

“Come prepared for a traffic jam in Lansing! We WANT gridlock,” the group explains on Facebook.

As of Monday evening over 3,000 people have said they are going [4,400 by now] and 14,000 are interested. The Facebook event lists its organizers as the Michigan Conservative Coalition and the Michigan Freedom Fund.

Whitmer spoke about the protest in a press conference Monday, April 13.

“I’m always going to defend your right to free speech,” Whitmer said. “I support people’s right to demonstrate and to use their voice.”

The governor just asked that people participating to practice safe social distancing in order to stay healthy and keep first responders healthy.

She also questioned the political underpinnings of the protest. 

“This group is funded in large part by the DeVos family. And I think it’s really inappropriate for a sitting member of the United States president’s cabinet to be waging political attacks on on any governor, but obviously, on me here at home,” Whitmer said Monday, referring to Betsy DeVos, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. “I think that they should disavow and encourage people to stay home and be safe.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan Freedom Fund is a Lansing-based organization that advocates for conservative policies and has strong ties to the DeVos family. And while Betsy DeVos hasn’t contributed since being a member of Trump’s cabinet, members of her family, including her husband Dick DeVos, have continued to make many political contributions.

The Michigan Freedom Fund posted a statement on their Twitter Monday evening, saying Whitmer’s claim is “bizarre” and “false.” 

“Governor Gretchen Whitmer accused us of ‘funding’ a protest Wednesday being organized by the Michigan Conservative Coalition and a huge organic Facebook community,” the state from the group’s executive director Tony Daunt said. “The truth of the matter is that the Michigan Freedom Fund has never contributed to the Michigan Conservative Coalition…”

Michigan Freedom Fund Executive Director Tony Daunt responded to Governor Whitmer’s bizarre – and categorically false – claim that the organization is ‘funding’ another group’s grassroots protest in Lansing this Wednesday: "Get Your Damn Facts Straight." https://t.co/wf0ro7W66Q pic.twitter.com/6Znf5PZprJ

— MichiganFreedomFund (@MichiganFreedom) April 13, 2020

The DeVos family also shared a statement, in response to Whitmer’s comments, saying the family hasn’t spent any money on the protest.

“Contrary to the Governor’s statements, the DeVos family hasn’t spent a dime on this protest nor has it offered prior support to the organizing entity. They understand the frustration of fellow Michiganders however, as elements of the governor’s top-down approach appear to go beyond public safety. Michigan deserves competent governance – not baseless attacks.”

Whitmer said she understands why people are upset but wants to reassure people she is doing what she is doing to save lives.

“The stress of not being to work or the confusion of just trying to figure out why you can buy a lottery ticket and not seeds. I get it. It’s tough.” she said. “I can tell you as your governor, I’d much rather be working on fixing the damn roads.”

Source: WZZM 13