RAGE AGAINST THE QUARANTINE
Gun-wielding protesters march against lockdowns in Pennsylvania as Kentucky sees virus spike after demos
PROTESTS against the coronavirus lockdown are continuing, with gun wielding demonstrators converging on the state capital of Pennsylvania.
Following marches in several states at the weekend, there were also protests in today as it emerged Kentucky saw a spike in Covid-19 deaths after anti-lockdown action there.
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Stay-at-home measures, which experts say are essential to slow the spread of the virus, have ground the economy to a virtual standstill.
More than 22 million people have been forced to apply for unemployment benefits in the past month.
In, a few hundred protesters demonstrated in the capital Harrisburg and some drove in front of the capitol honking on their horns for hours.
It comes after Democratic Governor Tom Wolf pledged to veto a bill that would force him to reopen some businesses
Many of the protesters accused officials of exaggerating the scale of the pandemic and taking actions that had caused more harm than the virus itself.
"All the projections were wrong, but we are still telling people to stay home and businesses to close. This is not quarantine, this is tyranny," said Mark Cooper, a 61-year-old retired truck driver.
But Yetta Timothy, 43, who was part of a counter-protest, said the nursing home where she worked had lost an untold number of patients.
"They are dying, everyday my life is on the line," she said.
"I just can't believe all of this is happening, that they want to go back to work.”
Sacramento also saw hundreds of people gather to protest the lockdown, at California's state capitol building.
Demonstrators jammed roads while honking and holding out signs while others flouted social distancing rules, blared out music and shouted for the lockdown to end.
In Newport Beach, California, two dozen people, many wearing masks are stood at the entrance to City Hall carrying placards calling for the right to get back to work, the
The demonstration follows similar events in Huntington Beach and San Clemente the last few days that drew hundreds of people.
Meanwhile Kentucky experienced its highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases after protests broke out in the state to lift lockdowns.
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Gov. Andy Beshear announced there were 273 new cases Sunday, bringing the total to 2,960, .
The latest protests come after in front of the cars of demonstrators who flocked to Colorado to call for an end to the state's shutdown.
has defended the who gathered in cities across the nation to push for businesses to be reopened amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The protesters, mostly right-wing followers, anti-vaccination advocates and gun rights activists, have been standing close together without masks or gloves, in defiance of the social distancing guidelines.
Ben Dorr, political director the “Minnesota Gun Rights” group and brothers, Christopher and Aaron, are behind the Facebook groups calling for anti-lockdown protest,
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Facebook has said it is blocking anti-quarantine protesters from using the site to organize in-person gatherings that violate states' stay-at-home orders.
"We remove the posts when gatherings do not follow the health parameters established by the government and are therefore unlawful,” said a spokesman.
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