Donald Trump tells Michigan Governor Whitmer to ‘make a deal’ with armed ant-blocking invaders

President Donald Trump on Friday urged Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to “give a little” to armed anti-blockade protesters who stormed the State Capitol building in Lansing brandishing rifles.

Trump provided his bargaining advice hours after hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Capitol building demanding that Whitmer lift his order that bans residents of a variety of establishments until the number of coronavirus cases drops.

“The Michigan governor should give a little and put out the fire,” Trump wrote.

‘These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safe! See them, talk to them, make a deal, ” Trump tweeted Friday morning.

Some of them were photographed wearing Trump hats and paraphernalia.

Trump’s own philosophy is to call himself a “counter puncher who often tries to hit political opponents in statements or online.

Whitmer gained national attention for her firm closing order, and has been mentioned in a list of potential partners for former Vice President Joe Biden.

She faces a difficult situation in her home state, where armed activists demanded access to the floor of the State Chamber on Thursday.

Some were pushed inside the Capitol as lawmakers debated renewing the Whitmer order.

‘Let us in! This is the people’s house, they can’t lock us up, ‘some sang, NBC reported.

The rally was organized by Michigan United for Liberty, which called it the American Patriot Rally.

Whitmer has issued a state of emergency statement that includes a stay-at-home order that will keep nonessential businesses closed until at least May 28, despite armed protests.

She expedited three executive orders Thursday night just as her previous orders expired, telling a virtual city council that “we remain in a state of emergency” while accusing Republican senators of “burying their heads in the sand and jeopardizing the media. subsistence “. ‘by opposing movements.

Hours earlier, the House of Representatives and the Senate had voted to pass legislation that would allow them to sue Whitmer for his emergency statements when armed protesters stormed the state capitol.

They also voted on another bill that would expand some of its emergency measures, but crucially not the order to stay home. His bill would also allow the reopening of restaurants, bars, and gyms. Whitmer said he will not sign it.

Amid the chaos, Democratic Senator Sylvia Santana was photographed wearing a bulletproof vest and surgical mask while at her desk, while her colleague Dayna Polehanki tweeted an image of men armed with rifles on a balcony above her.

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Whitmer’s three new executive orders canceled his previous orders, asserted that Michigan remains in a state of emergency, and then extended its emergency powers until at least May 28.

With lawmakers passing a bill that allows them to sue Whitmer, who he cannot veto, the matter appears destined to end in court, although no lawsuit has been filed Thursday night, M-Live reported.

The governor claims authority to govern by executive order under two laws: the 1976 Emergency Management Act and a similar law of 1945 that allows the governor to declare a state of emergency and assume emergency powers.

The arguments center on the fact that the 1976 law says that governors must go to the Legislature if they want to extend the state of emergency in the last 28 days. The 1945 law says that governors decide when the emergency ends.

Whitmer’s extended request prohibits the opening of gyms, theaters, bars, and casinos, and also limits restaurants to delivery and delivery orders only.

Restaurants and allow up to five people to enter at a time to pick up orders, but only if they follow social distancing guidelines by staying six feet away.

The restrictions do not apply to office buildings, supermarkets, markets, food pantries, pharmacies, pharmacies, medical equipment / supply providers, health care centers, residential care centers, juvenile justice centers, warehouses and distribution centers, or industrial and manufacturing sites.

‘Although we are beginning to see that the curve flattens, we have not yet emerged from the forest. We all must remain diligent, observe social distancing and limit interactions and services in person to stop the spread of COVID-19, ‘he said when the order was issued.

‘Michigan now has more than 40,000 COVID-19 cases. The virus has killed more Michiganns than we lost during the Vietnam War. Expanding this order is vital to the health and safety of every Michigander.

“By working together and doing our part, we can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 and save lives.”

Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters, some with rifles, descended on the state capitol to oppose the shutdown, many of whom were waving pro-Trump banners after the president previously tweeted to ‘FREE MICHIGAN’. He posted similar tweets about Virginia and Minnesota.

Most of them seemed to ignore state patterns of social distancing when clustered less than six feet away. Few people wore masks.

In the United States, more than 1 million people have been infected with the virus. The death toll increases every day and until Thursday afternoon it exceeded 62,000. In Michigan, more than 3,600 people died from the virus and more than 40,000 people contracted the disease.

However, protests to open governments have erupted across the United States, and Thursday’s demonstration came just a day after a Michigan judge sided with Whitmer in a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs who claimed that their order Staying at home violated his constitutional rights.

Claims Court judge Christopher M. Murray disagreed and said the plaintiffs’ arguments were not robust due to the severity of the pandemic.

Murray wrote in the court order: “ Although the Court is painfully aware of the difficulties of living under the restrictions of these executive orders, those difficulties are temporary, while for those who contract the virus and cannot recover (and for their families and friends), it’s too permanent. ”

During Thursday’s protest, Mike Detmer, a Republican candidate for the United States Congress who ran for the state’s 8th district seat in the hands of Democrat Elissa Slotkin, told the crowd: ‘Governor Whitmer and our state legislature , it’s over. Open this state.

‘Let’s reopen businesses again. Let’s make sure there are jobs to go back to.

Other speakers at the rally questioned the lethality of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

They also said that Whitmer’s order to stay at the house violated constitutional rights and urged people to open their businesses on May 1 regardless of his order.

Thursday’s rally began around 9 a.m. in constant rain with some protesters chanting ‘America’ and ‘locking it up’, referring to Whitmer, but alluding to a refrain that was often sung at the 2016 Trump rallies led Hillary Clinton.

State authorities have warned that protesters could be fined for violating social distancing rules.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement Wednesday that he was “disappointed” that protesters would put themselves and others at risk, but acknowledged that Whitmer’s order still allowed people “to exercise their right to First Amendment freedom of expression. “

Whitmer has acknowledged that his order was the strictest in the country.

Protesters, many of the more rural parts of Michigan, who are inclined to Trump, have argued that it has paralyzed the economy across the state, even when most deaths from the virus focus on the southeast Detroit metropolitan area. .

Organizers of a mid-April protest in Michigan took credit when Whitmer recently withdrew some of the most controversial elements of his order, such as bans on people traveling to his other properties.

Whitmer’s stay-at-home order will continue through May 15, although he has said he could loosen restrictions as health experts determine that new cases of COVID-19 are being successfully controlled.

On Wednesday, he said the construction industry could return to work starting May 7.

Thursday’s protest seemed to be the largest in the state since April 15, when supporters and allies of President Donald Trump organized thousands of people for ‘Operation Bottleneck’, cramming the streets of Lansing with their cars to say what which they said was in excess of Whitmer’s strict order to stay home.

That was one of the first major demonstrations against the country’s blockade and helped spark a wave of similar events across the country.

The slow reopening of state economies across the country has taken on political overtones, as Republican politicians and people affiliated with Trump’s reelection promoted protests in electoral battlefield states, such as Michigan.

Many states, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Alaska, South Carolina, and Ohio, have already moved to restart parts of their economies after weeks of mandatory shutdowns that have ejected nearly one in six American workers from their jobs.

Public health authorities warn that increased human interactions now without adequate security measures can lead to a new wave of infections.

Regardless of the warning, people have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the closing orders.

Earlier this week, hundreds of lockdown rebels attended the “Reopen North Carolina” rally despite the group’s leader, Audrey Whitlock, testing positive for the coronavirus.

The group, which has been campaigning for government officials to reopen the state and relax restrictions on the coronavirus, were seen meeting outside the North Carolina Legislative Building in Raleigh.

Many waved American flags, while others had signs that read: “Free our people.”

Almost none of the protesters wore masks or other protective equipment, as they clearly violated the social distancing order to stay six feet away.

Protesters asked Governor Roy Cooper to ease orders to stay home for the state where there are more than 9,900 confirmed cases and 354 deaths.

ReOpen NC promises to hold rallies in Raleigh every Tuesday until the governor’s restrictions are lifted. His order to stay home has been extended until May 8.