Trump calls Michigan lockdown protesters ‘good people’ a day after armed demonstrators stormed statehouse
Donald Trump has called Michigan protesters “good people” and implored the state governor to ease stay-at-home measures, just one day after armed residents intimidated lawmakers.
“The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire,” Mr Trump tweeted on Friday, addressing Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat. “These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal.”
The president and his followers turned against Ms Whitmer for her strict stay-at-home orders, with some accusing her of taking the power too far during the coronavirus pandemic.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Thursday to protest stay-at-home measures and implore lawmakers to lift them. Among these protesters were people armed with rifles, which the state allows residents to legally carry as long as they’re visible to police.
State Senator Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat, tweeted on Thursday that some of her colleagues were so concerned about armed demonstrators in the Capitol that they decided to wear bulletproof vests to work.
“Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bulletproof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today,” she wrote, sharing an image of men holding guns in the Capitol.
More follows ...
