Armed demonstrators storm Michigan State House over stay-at-home order
Hundreds of angry demonstrators, some of them armed with rifles, stormed Michigan’s State House on Thursday to protest stay-at-home orders — terrifying lawmakers who wore bulletproof vests to protect themselves.
The protesters forced their way into the Capitol in Lansing to urge Michigan officials to end a state of emergency as the Wolverine State continues to battle one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the country.
Thursday’s event reached a terrifying climax when Capitol police were forced to protect lawmakers as protesters tried to storm their way into the chamber, the Detroit Free Press reported.
In one frightening scene, several men armed with rifles made their way into the public gallery and began shouting at senators on the floor beneath them, according to an account by one lawmaker.
“Directly above me, men with rifles yelling at us,” Michigan State Sen. Dayna Polehanki wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of the demonstrators.
“Some of my colleagues who own bullet proof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our Sergeants-at-Arms more than today.”
In another video posted online, protesters, most of them not wearing masks, started chanting to be let into the chamber, yelling, “This is the people’s house, you cannot lock us up.”
Michigan has been rocked by protests and unrest for weeks after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency and imposed a restrictive shutdown on the state’s economy.
Facing a wave of criticism and armed protests outside her home, Whitmer eased restrictions to allow some people to return to work as many feared the stay-home order would ruin small businesses.
A state of emergency remains in place until the middle of May but many state Republican lawmakers are mounting efforts to restrict Whitmer’s power.